Modular bipolar-CMOS-DMOS analog integrated circuit and power transistor technology

ABSTRACT

A family of semiconductor devices is formed in a substrate that contains no epitaxial layer. In one embodiment the family includes a 5V CMOS pair, a 12V CMOS pair, a 5V NPN, a 5V PNP, several forms of a lateral trench MOSFET, and a 30V lateral N-channel DMOS. Each of the devices is extremely compact, both laterally and vertically, and can be fully isolated from all other devices in the substrate.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 11/881,841,filed Jul. 30, 2007, which is a continuation of application Ser. No.10/767,419, filed Jan. 29, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,265,434, which is acontinuation of application Ser. No. 10/262,567, filed Sep. 29, 2002,now U.S. Pat. No. 6,855,985, each of which prior applications isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

This application is related to application Ser. No. 10/218,668, filedAug. 14, 2002, and application Ser. No. 10/218,678, filed Aug. 14, 2002,each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to semiconductor device fabrication and inparticular to the fabrication, on a single semiconductor chip, of fieldeffect and bipolar transistors or other semiconductor devices having thecapability of being fully isolated from one another, and havingdifferent operating voltage ratings. In addition, this invention relatesto semiconductor devices having the characteristics of avoidingparasitic conduction between devices, suppressing noise and crosstalkbetween devices and circuits, and exhibiting other characteristics, suchas producing nearly ideal current sources especially for use in analogand mixed signal applications, and producing robust low-resistance powerMOSFETs for the on-chip integration of power switches used inhigh-current or high-voltage power applications.

While many integrated circuits today are digital, comprising memory,logic, digital signal processing, microprocessors, logic arrays, and soon, a number of products and electronic functions still rely on analogcircuitry, either alone or combined with digital circuitry into mixedsignal applications. Analog integrated circuits form a branch ofsemiconductor technology that is concerned with integrated circuits thatoperate in what is often referred to as the “analog” or “linear” circuitoperating regime. In analog ICs, some of the integrated devices are usedin power applications to switch currents, but there are other uses foranalog devices as well, especially when operating as constant currentsources or controlled current sources in voltage references, currentmirrors, oscillators, and amplifiers. This branch of the semiconductorindustry is in general sharply distinguished from the digital branch, interms of the electrical characteristics of the devices, the voltages andcurrents that the devices must handle, and the processes and techniquesthat are used to manufacture the devices.

Typically, digital devices are subjected to low currents and voltages,and they are used to switch these low currents on and off, performinglogical and arithmetic functions. The signal inputs to digital chips aregenerally themselves digital signals, and the power supply inputgenerally constitutes a well regulated input with only a few percentmaximum variation. All input and output pins are generally well behaved,staying within the designated supply voltage range, mostly emanatingfrom the outputs of other digital ICs. Most outputs drive loads that arecapacitive or resistive in nature and often only the inputs of otherdigital ICs.

Analog ICs, in contrast, must experience a far wider range of operatingenvironments. First of all, many analog and power ICs are connecteddirectly to the battery or power input of a product and are thereforesubjected to a full range of potential over-voltage and noiseconditions. In fact, the regulated supply used to power digital ICs isgenerally an analog voltage regulator IC protecting the digital IC fromthe variations in the raw power source, variations exceeding severaltens of percents. Furthermore, the inputs to analog ICs often arethemselves analog signals which may include noise mixed into the signalbeing monitored or detected. Lastly, the outputs of analog ICs oftenmust drive high voltage or high current loads. These loads may includeinductors or motors, causing the output pin of the IC to exceed thesupply voltage or go below ground potential, and may result in theforward biasing of PN junctions leading to undesirable parasitic bipolartransistor conduction.

The technologies used to fabricate analog and power ICs, especiallyprocesses combining CMOS and bipolar transistors, may benefit bothdigital and analog ICs in performance and in chip size. But in mostinstances digital ICs use fabrication processes optimized to producetransistors that consume the smallest possible area, even if theideality or performance of the semiconductor devices must suffer inorder to reduce area. In analog and power ICs, the operatingcharacteristics as well as the size are both important parameters, whereone cannot be sacrificed completely at the expense of the other. Somecharacteristics especially beneficial to analog, mixed signal, and powerICs include:

-   -   Fabricating devices of different voltage ratings on a single        chip, (including for MOSFET devices of different gate-to-source        and drain-to-source voltage ratings and for bipolar transistors        different collector-to-emitter voltage ratings),    -   Isolating devices from one another and from their common shared        substrate, especially if they operate at different voltages or        perform widely disparate functions within an IC,    -   Isolating a group of devices from a common substrate into an        isolation pocket or tub so that the bias potential imposed on        said devices can be maintained at a low voltage, while the        entire pocket “floats” at a high voltage above the substrate        potential,    -   Isolating a group of devices from a common substrate to prevent        small signal noise from interfering from their proper circuit        operation,    -   Suppressing the spread of minority carriers into the common        substrate (parasitic bipolar conduction) from forward biased PN        junctions,    -   Minimizing the possible effects of voltage drops and spatial        variations in potential along the substrate (so called “ground        bounce”) on other devices and circuits,    -   Integrating transistors whose output characteristics are        optimized to operate as constant current sources with minimal        voltage dependence, i.e. with flat output I-V characteristics        (often described for bipolars as having a high Early Voltage        V_(A), and for MOSFETs for having a high small-signal saturated        output impedance r₀),    -   Integrating high voltage transistors capable of “level-shifting”        control signals to aforementioned “floating” pockets of        low-voltage circuitry.    -   Integrating low-resistance MOSFETs for high current capable        switches, especially with fast signal propagation throughout a        large device array,    -   Integrating high current and/or high voltage devices capable of        surviving limited durations of operation in avalanche breakdown        without incurring permanent damage, degradation or immediate        failure (also known as rugged devices),    -   Integrating large area passives such as high-value resistors,        and large-area voltage-independent capacitors with a minimum use        of silicon real estate,    -   Integrating precisions analog circuitry, especially accurate        current sources, and temperature independent voltage references        which vary little from wafer lot to wafer lot

For these reasons, and others, the process technologies used tofabricate non-digital integrated circuits are unique, and oftentimes mixbipolar and CMOS devices into a single process. Merged bipolar-CMOSprocesses include names like BiCMOS (bipolar-CMOS), and CBiC(complementary bipolar-CMOS) processes. If a power MOSFET is alsointegrated, the power MOSFET may use the standard CMOS components, ormay employ a DMOS device (the “D” in DMOS was originally an acronym fordouble diffused). The mix of bipolar, CMOS, and DMOS transistors intoone process architecture is often referred to as a BCD process. Most ofthese processes require a complex process flow to achieve isolationbetween devices, especially when NPN or PNP bipolars are included.

The industry has adopted a fairly standard set of procedures in themanufacture of analog, bipolar-CMOS, BCD, and power applicableintegrated devices. Typically, an epitaxial (epi) layer is grown on topof a semiconductor substrate. Dopants are often implanted into thesubstrate before the epi is grown. As the epi layer is formed, thesedopants diffuse both downward into the substrate and upward into the epilayer, forming a “buried layer” at the interface between the substrateand the epi layer at the completion of the epi layer. The process iscomplicated by the fact that the buried layer implant must be diffusedwell away from the surface prior to epitaxial growth to avoid unwantedand excessive updiffusion of the buried layer into the epitaxial layer.This long pre-epitaxial diffusion is especially needed to avoid unwantedremoval of the buried implant layer during the etch-clean that occurs atthe beginning of epitaxial deposition (which removes the top layers ofthe substrate by etching to promote defect-free crystal growth).

Transistors and other devices are normally formed at or near the surfaceof the epi layer. These devices are typically formed by implantingdopants into the epi layer and then subjecting the substrate and epilayer to elevated temperatures to cause the dopants to diffuse downwardinto the epi layer. Depending on the dose of the implant, thediffusivity of the dopant, and the temperature and duration of thethermal process, regions of various sizes and dopant concentrations canbe formed in the epi layer. The energy of these implants is generallychosen to penetrate through any thin dielectric layers located atop thearea to be implanted, but not to penetrate deeply into the silicon, i.e.implants are located in shallow layers near the epitaxial surface. If adeeper junction depth is required, the implant is then subsequentlydiffused at a high temperature between (1000° C. to 1150° C.) for aperiod of minutes to several hours. If desired, these regions can bediffused downward until they merge with buried layers initially formedat the interface of the substrate and the epi layer.

There are numerous aspects of this standard fabrication process thatimpose limitations on the characteristics and variety of devices thatcan be formed in the epi layer. First, during the thermal process(sometime referred as an “anneal”) the dopants diffuse laterally as wellas vertically. Thus, to cause the dopants to diffuse deeply into the epilayer, one must accept a significant amount of lateral diffusion. As arule of thumb, the lateral diffusion or spreading is equal to about 0.8times the vertical diffusion. Obviously, this limits the horizontalproximity of the devices to each other, since a certain horizontalspacing must be provided between the implants in anticipation of thelateral spreading that will occur during the anneal. This limits thepacking density of the devices on the wafer.

Second, since all of the devices in a given wafer are necessarilyexposed to the same thermal processes, it becomes difficult to fabricatedevices having diverse, preselected electrical characteristics. Forexample, Device A may require an anneal at 900° C. for one hour in orderto achieve a desired electrical characteristic, but an anneal at 900° C.for one hour may be inconsistent with the electrical characteristicsrequired for Device B, moving or redistributing the dopants in anundesirable way. Once a dopant has been implanted, it will be subjectedto whatever “thermal budget” is applied to the wafer as a wholethereafter, making dopant redistribution unavoidable.

Third, the dopant profile of the diffusions is generally Gaussian, i.e.,the doping concentration is highest in the region where the dopant wasoriginally implanted, typically near the surface of the epi layer, anddecreases in a Gaussian function as one proceeds downward and laterallyaway from the implant region. Sometimes it may be desired to provideother dopant profiles, e.g., a “retrograde” profile, where the dopingconcentration is at a maximum at a location well below the surface ofthe epi layer and decreases as one moves upward towards the surface.Such retrograde profiles are not possible using an all-diffused process.Another desirable profile includes flat or constant dopantconcentrations, ones that do not substantially vary with depth. Suchprofiles are not possible using an all-diffused process. Attempts havebeen made to produce such flat profiles using multiple buried layersalternating with multiple epitaxial depositions, but these processes areprohibitively expensive since epitaxy is inherently a slower, moreexpensive process step than other fabrication operations.

Fourth, deeper junctions produced by long diffusions require minimummask features that increase in dimension in proportion to the depth ofthe junction and of the epitaxial layer to be isolated. So a 10 micronepitaxial layer requires an isolation region whose minimum maskdimension is roughly twice that of a 5 micron layer. Since thickerlayers are needed to support higher voltage isolated devices, there is asevere penalty between the voltage rating of a device and the wastedarea needed to isolate it. High voltage devices therefore have more areadevoted to isolation, pack fewer active devices per unit area, andrequire larger die areas for the same function than lower voltageprocesses. Larger die area results in fewer die per wafer, resulting ina more expensive die cost.

Fifth, in epitaxial processes, the epitaxial layer thickness must bechosen to integrate the highest voltage device needed on a given chip.As explained previously, higher voltage devices requires deeper, lessarea-efficient isolation diffusions. These thick, wide-isolationdiffusions are then required even in the lower voltage sections of thechip, wasting even more area. So in conventional processes, the highestvoltage device sets the area efficiency of all isolated regions.

Sixth, many IC processes do not have the capability to integrate avoltage independent capacitor like poly-to-poly, poly-to-metal, or metalto poly, nor do they contain a high sheet resistance material for highvalue resistors.

FIGS. 1-6 illustrate some of the problems associated with various priorart devices.

FIG. 1A shows a conventional CMOS device that contains a P-channelMOSFET (PMOS) 101 and an N-channel MOSFET (NMOS) 102. PMOS 101 is formedin an N well 132; NMOS 102 is formed in a P well 134. N well 132 and Pwell 134 are both formed in a P substrate 130. The device also containspolysilicon gates 140 that are covered with a metal layer 142 such as asilicide to improve the conductivity of the gate. Sidewall spacers 146are formed on the walls of gates 140, and in PMOS 101 these sidewallspacers allow the formation of P lightly-doped regions 144 adjacent theP+ source/drain regions 136, 138 to improve the breakdowncharacteristics of the device. Sidewall spacers 146 are formed bydirectionally etching an oxide layer from the horizontal surfaces of thedevice. P lightly-doped regions 144 are aligned to the gate 140 and P+source/drain regions 136, 138 are aligned to sidewall spacers 146. Plightly-doped regions 144 are implanted before the formation of sidewallspacers 146, and P+ source/drain regions 136, 138 are implanted afterthe formation of sidewall spacers 146. Each of these steps requires amask. P+ source/drain regions 136, 138 are contacted by a metal layer148 with a barrier metal layer 150, typically TiN (titanium-nitride)being formed at the interface with P+ source/drain regions 136, 138.

NMOS 102 contains similar components with opposite polarities. PMOS 101and NMOS 102 are separated by a field oxide layer 152. Normally there isa field dopant (not shown) under the field oxide layer. In some casesthe surface concentration of P well 134 or N well 132 can besufficiently high to raise the field threshold between adjacent NMOS orPMOS devices to a value greater than the supply voltage, and to maintainthe minimum threshold criteria despite normal variations in doping,oxide thickness, or operating temperature.

A problem with this device is that NMOS 102 is not isolated from the Psubstrate 130, since there is no PN junction between P substrate 130 andP well 134. P well 134 cannot float. Instead there is simply a resistiveconnection between P substrate 130 and P well 134. Noise can be coupledinto NMOS 102. Current having nothing to do with the circuit connectionof NMOS 102 can flow from substrate 130 into P well 134. Since everyMOSFET contains four electrical terminals; a gate, a source, a drain,and a back-gate (also known as the channel or body of the device), thenby this nomenclature the body of NMOS 102 comprising P well 134 isdirectly tried to the substrate (herein referred to as electricalground) and cannot be biased to a potential above the grounded substrate130. Since the P well 134 is grounded, any bias on the source pin ofNMOS 102, will raise its threshold and degrade the MOSFET's performance.

In contrast, N well 132 can be reverse-biased relative to P substrate130, isolating the PMOS 101 from the substrate potential. Since thedevice is isolated, the source 148/136 of the PMOS can be shorted to Nwell 132, the body of the PMOS, and allow operation above ground withoutdegrading the PMOS's electrical performance.

Since N well 132 has a limited amount of doping present in such wellregion, the PMOS may not always operate in an ideal manner, especiallydue to parasitic bipolar conduction. Specifically, N well 132 forms aparasitic PNP bipolar transistor (PNP) between the P+ source/drainregions 136, 138 and the P substrate 130. If either the PN junctionbetween P substrate 130 and N well 132, or (more likely) the PN junctionbetween one of the P+ source/drain regions 136, 138 and P substrate 130,becomes forward-biased, the parasitic PNP could turn on and conductunwanted current into P substrate 130. Also, there are typicallyparasitic NPN transistors elsewhere in the IC chip (e.g. comprising Nwell 132, P substrate 130 and any other N+ region located within Psubstrate 130), and these NPNs can combine with the PNP in N well 132 toproduce a latch-up condition (parasitic thyristor action).

In digital applications these problems may not be significant. Typicallythe PN junctions do not become forward-biased. The wells are heavilydoped and there is no particular concern with having high breakdownvoltages or a flat output current characteristic when the transistor isturned on.

PMOS 101 and NMOS 102 work reasonably well in a circuit of the kindshown in FIG. 1B, where the source and body of PMOS 101 are both tied toV_(CC), and the source and body of NMOS 102 are both tied to ground.Thus the body-drain junctions of both devices are reverse-biased so longas the drain potential of PMOS 101 and NMOS 102 remains at a voltageequal to or intermediate to the ground and V_(CC) supply rails.

The situation is different, however, where the devices are formed in oroperate as a circuit of the kind shown in FIG. 1C. There the body ofNMOS 102 is resistively tied to ground and the source is typicallyshorted to ground and the device therefore cannot be isolated. Also,there is a NPN bipolar transistor (dashed lines) between the source andthe drain. In PMOS 101, the diode that represents the PN junctionbetween P substrate 130 and N well 132 forms a part of the parasitic PNPtransistor (also shown in FIG. 1A) between P substrate 130 and P+ region138. As a result, the devices cannot be floated in circuit that is notreasonably near the ground potential, without risk of the PNP conductingor exhibiting snapback breakdown, especially at high temperatures.

A modified structure that has been used in the power MOSFET area toextend the voltage range of the devices is shown in FIG. 2A. The voltagerange of PMOS 103 has been extended by forming an extended P− “drift”region 156 adjacent the P+ drain region 154 in N well 132. The currentflows from the P+ source region 162 and through N well 132 and into Pdrift region 156 and P+ drain region 154. However, PMOS 103 still hasthe same parasitic PNP transistor (dashed lines) described before forPMOS 101.

In NMOS 104, P well 134 has been limited to enclose only the N+ sourceregion 160 and the P+ body contact region 162, and an N well 158 hasbeen formed adjacent to and enclosing N+ drain region 164. Gate 166overlaps the field oxide region 152 and onto thin gate oxide (activeregion) overlapping the surface channel formed by the N sidewall spacerof N+ 160 acting as source, Pwell 134 acting as body, and Nwell 158acting as drain of a high voltage N-channel MOSFET 104. In NMOS 104, thecurrent flows from the N+ source region 160 and through P well 134 (thechannel region) and N well 158 to N+ drain region 164. N well 158 actsas an N− drift region which, if it is doped lightly enough will depleteand extend the voltage range of NMOS 104.

NMOS 104, however, has an additional problem that is illustrated in FIG.2B. If NMOS 104 becomes saturated, as it often does during switching, inthe constant-current mode, N well 158 may become substantially depleted.When the electrons emerge from channel 168, they enter an area of N well158 located between field oxide region 152 and P well 134, where thestrength of the electric field is high (as indicated by theequipotential lines II), especially adjacent the field oxide region 152and the thin gate oxide portion underlying gate 166. As result, impactionization may occur, generating hot carriers, particularly adjacentfield oxide region 152 where the defects associated with the LOCOSprocess are present. If N well 158 is substantially depleted, thecurrent is not constrained within N well 158. Thus, if NMOS 104 isdriven into saturation, the hot carriers may rupture the gate oxide anddestroy the thin oxide underlying gate 166.

FIG. 2C is a graph of the drain current I_(D) through NMOS 104 as afunction of the drain-to-source voltage V_(DS), Curve A shows thesituation when the device is turned off. The ideal operation is for thecurrent to remain at zero until breakdown occurs and then rise withV_(DS) remaining essentially constant (curve A1), the device acting as avoltage clamp. Where there are parasitic bipolar transistors, or whereimpact ionization occurs, so many carriers are generated the voltagecollapses or “snaps back” after breakdown (curve A2) and if the currentrises too much the device will be destroyed. As shown by curve B, asimilar result can occur when NMOS 104 is turned on. Hot carriers aregenerated by the channel current through the device and these hotcarriers can cause the device to snap back in what is sometimes referredto as a safe operating area (SOA) failure. The fact that the dopingconcentrations and profiles cannot be controlled very accurately,because the dopants are being thermally diffused, makes these problemsworse, especially considering that Gaussian dopant profiles have theirhighest concentrations at the silicon surface, where the electric fieldsare also highest.

FIG. 2D illustrates a problem that can occur with PMOS 103 as a resultof the inability to control the doping profile of N well 132. Eventhough PMOS 103 is isolated from P substrate 130, if the source-bodyvoltage V_(DD) gets to be too far above ground (e.g., 12V in a 5Vdevice, 18V in a 12V device, etc.), the depletion region will spreadupward in N well 132 towards the surface of the substrate. Since thedoping profile of N well 132 cannot be controlled, the diffusion timesmust be increased to drive the PN junction far into the substrate toprevent the depletion region from reaching the surface of the substrate.Normally, there is a compromise. The N well 132 is not as deep as wouldbe desirable, and the depletion does reach back into the N well. Thisnarrows the width of the parasitic bipolar transistor in PMOS 103, sincethe actual net electrical width of the base is the depth of the PNjunction between N well 132 and P substrate 130, less the width of thedepletion region within N well 132.

Moreover, if the junction between N well 132 and P substrate 130 everbecomes even slightly forward-biased, the device will have a tendency tosnap back, because the base of the parasitic bipolar transistor betweenP substrate 130 and P+ drain 154 (dashed lines) has a very resistivecontact and therefore the parasitic bipolar will experience what isessentially an “open-base” breakdown (BV_(CEO)). This breakdown voltageis much lower than the normal reverse-bias junction breakdown between Nwell 132 and P substrate 130. If this happens the device will mostlikely be destroyed. If PMOS 103 becomes saturated, hot carriers will begenerated that may also lead to this phenomenon.

Probably the biggest single problem with PMOSs 101, 103 is that they arenot floating, meaning they cannot be biased at a high N well-to-Psubstrate potential without snapping back. Similarly, one of the biggestproblems with NMOSs 102, 104 is that they are not floating, meaningtheir body connection cannot be biased above the substrate potential atall. This limits greatly the types of circuits in which they can beused.

FIG. 3 illustrates how this problem occurs in an illustrative powerconversion circuit 105. Circuit 105 includes low-side circuitry 170,which would be biased near ground (e.g., 5V or less above ground), andhigh-side circuitry 172, which could float 20V or 30V above ground (thesubstrate). MOSFET M1 would typically be a high-voltage N-channel devicethat sends a signal through a resistor R1 to high-side circuitry 172 andwould have a breakdown voltage of 20V to 30V, even though the inputsignal at the gate of M1 might only be 5V. MOSFET M2 would be ahigh-voltage P-channel device that level-shifts a signal through aresistor R2. MOSFETs M3 and M4 constitute a 5V or 12V CMOS pair thatdrives the gate of an N-channel output high-side MOSFET M7. The sourceof MOSFET M3 needs to float 20V or 30V above the substrate, but MOSFETsM3 and M4 are themselves low-voltage devices. This minimizes the areathey occupy on the chip.

MOSFETs M5 and M6 are a CMOS pair similar to MOSFETs M3 and M4, but thesource of MOSFET M5 is connected to ground. MOSFETs M5 and M6 drive thegate of an N-channel output low-side MOSFET M8.

Bootstrap capacitor C1 powers the floating high-side circuit and floatsabove ground. The voltage across capacitor C1 V_(Bootstrap) is 5V. Whenoutput MOSFET M7 is turned on, raising the lower terminal of capacitorC1 to 20V, diode D10, which is used to charge capacitor C1, must blockapproximately 25V (i.e., V_(DD)+V_(Bootstrap)).

Thus, in a circuit such as circuit 105, one must have the flexibility toinclude high-voltage devices and dense, floating low-voltage devices ona single chip. The devices shown in FIGS. 1A and 2A do not meet theneeds of circuit 105 shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 4A shows the prior art's answer to this problem, although itrepresents a step backwards technologically. An N-type epitaxial (N-epi)layer 176 is grown on a P substrate 174. PMOS 107 is formed in N-epilayer 176, and NMOS 106 is formed in a P well 178 in N epi layer 176.Thus NMOS 106 and PMOS 107 constitute a CMOS pair that floats above Psubstrate 174.

The chip also includes an N-channel lateral DMOS 108 that is isolatedfrom P substrate 174 by the junction between N-epi layer 176 and Psubstrate 174 and from the CMOS pair by a P-type isolation diffusion180. An N buried layer 184 provides isolation for the CMOS pair.

One problem with this structure is that it requires long diffusions. Forexample, P isolation diffusion 180 must be diffused through the entireN-epi layer 176 to reach P substrate 174, and P body 182 of lateral DMOS108 likewise requires a long diffusion at a high temperature (e.g., 12hours at 1100° C. or more).

Moreover, to align P body 182 to gate 186 of lateral DMOS 108 requiresthat gate 186 be formed before P body 182 is implanted. The CMOS pairtypically has a threshold adjust implant that would be performed beforethe polysilicon gates 188 are deposited. The long anneal required todiffuse P body 182, however, would render useless any threshold adjustimplant that was previously performed in the CMOS pair. The only way toavoid this problem would be to deposit the gate 186 of lateral DMOSbefore the gates 188 of the CMOS, but this would add considerablecomplexity to the process.

The devices typically have a channel length of 0.8-2.0 μm rather than0.35 μm. One could use a 0.35 μm process to fabricate this structure butthe number of masking steps could become excessive. The number of stepsto form the isolation structures would be added to the steps for the0.35 μm process and the threshold adjust. Normally the prior art hassettled for lower density and less complexity in order to get thisisolation capability. Moreover, the effort to reduce the size of CMOSdevices and the resulting benefit in reduced die size are mostly lostwhen the large wasted area of isolation diffusions 180 is considered.

FIG. 4B shows N-channel quasi-vertical DMOSs 109 that are formed inN-epi layer 176 and are isolated from P substrate 174. In each device,the current flows from N+ source region 192, laterally through a channelin P body 194 under gate 190, downward in N-epi layer 176 to N buriedlayer 196, laterally in N buried layer 196, and upward through N+ sinker198. An advantage of the devices is that the current is pinched off byspreading depletion regions between the P bodies when the devices arereverse-biased, and this protects the gate oxide layer. On the otherhand, the on-resistance of the devices is increased by the distance thatthe current must flow through the N buried layer 196. To keep thisresistance within acceptable limits N+ sinkers must be positionedperiodically and frequently between the DMOSs, and this reduces thepacking density of the chip. The higher the off-state blocking voltageBV_(DSS) of such a DMOS device, the deeper N+ sinker diffusion 198 and Pisolation diffusion 180 must be driven, wasting more die area for suchdeep and wide diffused regions.

FIG. 4C shows an NPN transistor (NPN) 110 that can be formed in the sameprocess. The base 141 of NPN 110 would typically be formed by the same Pdiffusion as P body 182 N-channel LDMOS 108 (FIG. 4A) and therefore maynot be optimal. The current characteristics of NPN 110 are generallyquite good, but it must be large to accommodate the N+ sinker 143 anddeep P isolation diffusion 147.

In high-voltage PMOS 111, the parasitic bipolar between P substrate 174and N+ source region 151 is suppressed by N buried layer 149. To obtainthe high-voltage feature, however, N epi layer 176 must be 6 μm to 10 μmthick and this further increases the length of the diffusion requiredfor N+ sinker 143 and P isolation region 147. A greater verticaldiffusion means a greater horizontal diffusion, so this furtherincreases the size of the device.

FIG. 5A shows an alternative technique of forming an isolation regionthat limits somewhat the length of the diffusion and helps reducelateral spreading of such deep diffusions. A P isolation region 153 isimplanted near the surface of N-epi layer 176 (after epitaxial growth),and a P buried layer 155 is formed at the interface of N-epi layer 176and P substrate 174 (prior to epitaxial growth). During the implantanneal, P isolation region 153 diffuses downward and P buried layer 155diffuses upward until they merge somewhere in the middle of N-epi layer176.

This process also raises the possibility of fabricating an isolationstructure that includes a P buried layer 159 on top of an N buried layer157, as shown in FIG. 5A. A relatively slow-diffusing dopant such asantimony or arsenic can be used to form N buried layer 157, and arelatively fast-diffusing dopant such as boron can be used to form Pburied layer 159. Buried layers 157 and 159 are heavily doped, and thedopants must be driven deep into P substrate 174 to prevent them fromcoming out during the growth of N-epi layer 176. This is a highlyvariable process that is difficult to control. Furthermore, P isolationlayer 153 must be aligned to PBL region 157 through the entire thicknessof epitaxial layer 176. It is difficult to guarantee good alignment withthis procedure, requiring extra spacing to be included in the designrules of a device and wasting silicon area.

This process does permit the fabrication of a fully isolated PNP,however, as shown in FIG. 5B. In PNP 112 an N buried layer 161 and a Pburied layer 165 are formed at the interface between P substrate 174 andN-epi layer 176. N buried layer 161 is contacted via N+ sinkers 163, andP buried layer 165 and P isolation region 167 become the collector ofPNP 112. PNP 112 is isolated from adjacent devices by P isolationregions 171, which are diffused downward to merge with up-diffusing Pburied layers 169. P buried layers 169 and PBL 165 are generally thesame P buried layer.

The use of a P buried layer can also help overcome the “hot carrier”problem described in connection with FIG. 2B. As shown in FIG. 5C, Pburied layer 173, formed under the P body 134 of NMOS 104, “squeezes”the depletion regions back into the area directly under field oxidelayer 152, where the breakdown fields are higher and more voltage can betolerated, and therefore reduces the strength of the electric field atthe surface of N-epi layer 176 under gate 166.

If the charge Q in N-epi layer 176 is chosen to be in the range of1.0-1.3×10¹² atoms cm⁻¹, then N-epi layer 176 fully depletes before itbreaks down, and a much higher voltage can be applied to the device(e.g., hundreds of volts). This is known as a “resurf” device in theprior art. The charge Q is equal to the doping concentration times thedepth of N-epi layer 176 (strictly speaking the charge is equal to theintegral of the concentration integrated over the thickness of theepitaxial layer).

FIG. 6A shows a different approach to the problem. Here, a P-epi layer179 is grown on P substrate 174. An isolated P pocket 187 is formed inP-epi layer 179 by down-diffusing N isolation regions 185, up-diffusingN buried layers 183, and forming an N buried layer 181. N regions 185and N buried layers 183 are doped with a relatively fast-diffusingdopant such as phosphorus, whereas N buried layer 181 is formed of arelatively slow-diffusing dopant such as antimony or arsenic. As aresult, an “N tub” is formed surrounding P pocket 187. An N well 190 andoptionally a P well (dashed lines) are formed in isolated P pocket 187.A PMOS 113 is formed in N well 191, and an NMOS 114 is formed in Ppocket 187 (or in the P well). PMOS 113 and NMOS 114 are similar to PMOS101 and NMOS 102, shown in FIG. 1A, except that they may or may notinclude sidewall spacers. Outside the “N tub” a high-voltage lateralDMOS (HV LDMOS) 115 is fabricated, similar to NMOS 104 shown in FIG. 2A,except that a P body diffusion 193 may be used in place of the P well134 (dashed lines) and an N field doping 195 under field oxide layer 152serves as the “drift” region of HV LDMOS 115. HV LDMOS 115 does not havea P buried layer similar to P buried layer 173 shown in FIG. 5C toreduce the strength of the electric field under the gate.

In fabricating PMOS 113, P-epi layer 179 must be thick enough to ensurethat, taking into account the variability in the thickness of P-epilayer 179, N buried layer 181 does not overlap N well 191 Otherwise, Nburied layer 181, which is heavily doped, may influence the electricalcharacteristics of PMOS 113. Another approach is shown in FIG. 6B, whereinstead of having two separate phosphorus buried layers 183, a singlephosphorus N buried layer 197 up-diffuses and merges with N isolationregions 185. The arsenic or antimony N buried layer 181 remains wellbelow N well 191, but the up-diffusing phosphorus merges into N well191. Because the doping concentration of the portion of N buried layer197 that overlaps N well 191 is low, the electrical characteristics ofPMOS 113 are not significantly effected by N buried layer 197.

FIG. 6B also shows that an NPN 116 can be fabricated in the sameprocess. The base of NPN 116 is wider than the base of NPN 110, shown inFIG. 4C, because the base includes some of P-epi layer 179 rather thanjust the P body diffusion 141. Since the width of P-epi layer 179 isvariable, NPN 116 is not as reproducible as NPN 110.

FIG. 6C summarizes the options for the fast-diffusing (phosphorus) andslow-diffusing (arsenic or antimony) N buried layers in the embodimentsof FIGS. 6A and 6B. The fast and slow-diffusing N buried layers can beseparate, as shown on the left side of FIG. 6C, or they can besuperimposed on one another, perhaps using the same mask, as shown onthe right side of FIG. 6C. In both cases, the fast diffusant (labeled UIas an acronym for up isolation) extends both above and below thevertical extent of the slow diffusing NBL.

The devices shown in FIGS. 1A-1C, 2A-2D, 3, 4A-4C, 5A-5C, 6A-6C share acommon set of problems. They generally require long thermal cycles todiffuse dopants to desired depths in a substrate or epitaxial layer.These diffusions cause redistribution of every dopant present within thesilicon at the time of the diffusion, including devices where it wouldbe preferable to prevent or limit dopant diffusion. For example, anywell diffusion cycle performed after field oxidation occurs causes thedopant concentration at the silicon surface directly under the fieldoxide to decline, lowering the “field threshold” of parasitic surfaceMOSFETs formed between adjacent like-type devices. This unwantedredistribution may allow a parasitic PMOS to be formed between adjacentPMOSs sharing a common N well, or parasitic NMOS conduction betweenadjacent NMOSs sharing a common P well. To raise the field threshold andcounter the adverse affects of diffusion, a higher field thresholdimplant is required. A higher implant dose, however, raises the surfaceconcentration leading to lower surface breakdowns and higher surfacefields.

Moreover, a higher surface concentration is also subject even greaterdiffusion due to a higher concentration gradient. To avoid theseeffects, the possible process architectures are limited to sequenceswhere the dopants that must not diffuse must be introduced late in theprocess, after gate oxidations, field oxidations, well diffusions, etc.Such a limitation imposes many restrictions in the device type anddevice optimization possible.

High temperature diffusions also generally produce Gaussian dopantprofiles in the resulting wells or other regions. One cannot fabricateregions having predetermined yet arbitrary, non-Gaussian dopantprofiles. For example, a retrograde profile having a higher subsurfaceconcentration than its surface concentration cannot be performed usingpurely diffused techniques. Such diffusions (and diffusions in general)are difficult to accurately control, and the actual results may varywidely from what is desired especially when the variability fromwafer-to-wafer (from a single wafer batch) and variability fromwafer-batch to wafer-batch (so called “run-to-run variation) areconsidered. The variability comes from poor temperature control and fromdopant segregation occurring during oxidation.

Moreover, the diffusions, while intended primarily to introduce dopantsdeeper into the substrate, also spread the dopants laterally, and thisincreases the size of the devices, in some cases by substantial amounts.

To the extent that an epitaxial layer is used to fabricate the devices,these effects are further magnified by the effects of growing theepitaxial layer. Until now, the need for epitaxy has been virtuallymandated by the integration of fully-isolated “analog quality” bipolars(i.e. excluding digital- and RF-optimized bipolars). Yet epitaxy remainsthe single most expensive step in wafer fabrication, making its useundesirable. Variability in epitaxial thickness and in concentrationcompound device optimization, and the epitaxial process necessarilyoccurs at a high temperature, typically over 1220 C. Suchhigh-temperature processing causes unwanted updiffusion of the substratein some regions of an IC, and of buried layers in other regions. Theupdiffusion produces a thinner epitaxial layer than the actual grownthickness, meaning added deposition time and thickness must be used tooffset the updiffusion, making the epi layer as deposited thicker thanit otherwise would need to be. Isolating a thicker epitaxial layerrequires even longer diffusion times for the isolation diffusionstructure, leading to excessively wide features.

In the event that multiple operating voltages are present within thesame chip, the epitaxy needs to be selected for the maximum voltagedevice. The isolation width is then larger than necessary in sections ofthe IC not utilizing the higher voltage components. So, in essence, onecomponent penalizes all the others. This penalty leads to poor packingdensities for low voltage on-chip devices, all because of one highervoltage component. If the higher voltage device is not used, the wastedarea lost to high voltage isolation (and related design-rule spacing)cannot be reclaimed without re-engineering the entire process andaffecting every component in the IC. Such a process is not modular,since the addition or removal of one component adversely affects all theother integrated devices.

Accordingly, there is a clear need for a technology that would permitthe fabrication of an arbitrary collection of optimized transistors orother devices, closely packed together in a single semiconductor wafer,fully isolated, in a modular, non-interacting fashion.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with this invention, an isolated pocket of a substrate ofa first conductivity type is formed by forming a field oxide layer, thefield oxide layer comprising a first section and a second section, thefirst and second sections being separated from each other by an opening.A first implant of a dopant of a second conductivity type is performedthrough the first and second sections of the field oxide layer andthrough the opening to form a deep layer of the second conductivitytype, the deep layer comprising a deeper portion under the opening andshallower portions under the first and second sections of the fieldoxide layer. A mask layer is formed over the opening, and at least oneadditional implant of dopant of the second conductivity type isperformed, the mask layer blocking dopant from the at least oneadditional implant from entering the area of the substrate below theopening. The dopant from the at least one additional implant passesthrough the first and second sections of the field oxide layer, however,to form sidewalls in the substrate, each sidewall extending from thebottom of the first and second sections of the field oxide layer,respectively, and into the deep layer, the deep layer and the sidewallsforming an isolation region enclosing an isolated pocket of thesubstrate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A-1C describe attributes of a prior art conventional epi-lesstwin well CMOS process and its variants;

FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view of a prior-art twin-well CMOS withsidewall spacers.

FIG. 1B is an idealized schematic representation of a CMOS transistorpair available in prior-art conventional (non-isolated) CMOS processes;

FIG. 1C is a detailed schematic representation of a CMOS pair availablein prior-art conventional (non-isolated) CMOS processes illustratingparasitic elements;

FIGS. 2A-2C describe the integration of high voltage elements into aconventional epi-less twin-well CMOS and the problems arising from suchan implementation;

FIG. 2A is a cross sectional view of a modified prior-art conventional(non-isolated) twin-well CMOS process integrating an N well-enclosedextended-drain PMOS and an extended N-channel lateral DMOS transistor(with a P well as a non-self-aligned body);

FIG. 2B describes the operation of a prior-art N-channel lateral DMOStransistor in saturation illustrating lines of current flow (labeled I(flow)) and contours of impact ionization (labeled II);

FIG. 2C shows conventional prior-art MOSFET drain-to-sourcecurrent-voltage (I-V) characteristics illustrating ideal breakdown(curve A1), snapback breakdown (curve A2), and impact ionization inducedsnapback (curve B);

FIG. 2D is a cross-sectional view of a conventional prior-artextended-drain N well-enclosed PMOS illustrating depletion regions(cross hatched), bias conditions, and the potential parasitic bipolarintrinsic to the device;

FIG. 3 shows a prior art circuit for driving an all N-channel push-pull(totem-pole) power MOSFET output stage with bootstrap powered floatinghigh-side driver, including high voltage elements for up-link anddown-linked level shifted signals;

FIGS. 4A-4C are cross-sectional views of the epitaxial junctionisolation (epi-JI) of CMOS, bipolar and DMOS components using deep“down-only” isolation diffusions;

FIG. 4A is a cross sectional view of a prior-art conventionaljunction-isolated epitaxial (epi-JI) CMOS with integrated lateralN-channel DMOS and large down-only isolation diffusions;

FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view of an N-channel quasi-vertical(up-drain) DMOS in prior-art conventional junction-isolated epitaxial(epi-JI) CMOS process;

FIG. 4C is a cross-sectional view of a quasi-vertical fully-isolated NPNand lateral high-voltage PMOS integrated prior-art conventionaljunction-isolated epitaxial (epi-JI) CMOS process (BCD version);

FIGS. 5A-5C are cross-sectional views of the epitaxial junctionisolation (epi-JI) of CMOS, bipolar and DMOS components using variousburied layers combined with a deep-diffused isolation diffusion toproduce “up-down” isolation diffusions having less lateral diffusionthan a down-only isolation;

FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view of isolation and buried layerstructures available in prior art up-down isolation version ofconventional epitaxial junction-isolated (epi-JI) processes;

FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view of a prior-art fully-isolatedquasi-vertical PNP in up-down isolated variant of conventional epitaxialjunction-isolation (epi-JI) bipolar, CMOS, or BCD processes;

FIG. 5C is a cross-sectional view of a prior-art fully-isolated lateralN-channel DMOS with extended (RESURF) drain region fabricated in up-downisolation version of conventional epitaxial junction-isolated (epi-JI)process;

FIGS. 6A-6C are cross-sectional views of a wrap-around junctionisolation (epi-WAJI) of CMOS, bipolar and DMOS components using variousburied layers and combined with isolation diffusions with an epitaxiallayer having the same conductivity type of the substrate;

FIG. 6A is a cross-sectional view of a prior-art wrap-aroundjunction-isolation epitaxial (epi-WAJI) process integrating CMOS andlateral DMOS;

FIG. 6B shows a modified version of a wrap-around junction-isolatedepitaxial process (epi-WAJI) using hybrid buried layer comprising slowand fast diffusers, integrating CMOS and fully-isolated quasi-verticalNPN into a BiCMOS process (prior art)

FIG. 6C is a cross-sectional view of various combinations of N-typeburied layers available in modified wrap-around isolationjunction-isolation process (epi-WAJI)

FIG. 7A illustrates the doping profile of a conventional diffused Nwell.

FIG. 7B illustrates the doping profile of a conventional diffused N wellwith an N layer implanted into the N well.

FIG. 7C illustrates the doping profile of the structure shown in FIG. 7Bwith an oxide layer overlying the surface of the substrate.

FIG. 8A is a cross-sectional view and FIG. 8B is a schematic diagramshowing the formation of a parasitic MOSFET between two adjacent lateralMOSFETs when no field oxide layer is located between the MOSFETs.

FIG. 9A is a cross-sectional view showing a field oxide layer betweentwo active regions in an N well formed in a P epitaxial layer.

FIG. 9B is a cross-sectional view showing an alternative structurewherein a field oxide layer is formed in a P substrate.

FIG. 9C shows the doping profile at cross-section 9A-9A′ of FIG. 9A.

FIG. 9D shows the doping profile at cross-section 9B-9B′ of FIG. 9B.

FIG. 9E shows the doping profile at cross-section 9C-9C′ of FIG. 9A.

FIG. 9F shows the doping profile at cross-section 9D-9D′ of FIG. 9B.

FIG. 10A is a cross-sectional view of a conventional isolated 12V N wellformed in a P epitaxial layer grown on a P substrate.

FIG. 10B is a cross-sectional view of an isolated 12V N well formed inaccordance with the invention.

FIG. 10C shows the doping profile at cross-section 10A-10A′ of FIG. 10A.

FIG. 10D shows the doping profile at cross-section 10B-10B′ of FIG. 10B.

FIG. 10E shows the doping profile at cross-section 10C-10C′ of FIG. 10A.

FIG. 10F shows the doping profile at cross-section 10D-10D′ of FIG. 10B.

FIGS. 10G-10I show alternative doping profiles that can be obtained atcross-section 10D-10D′ of FIG. 10B by varying the implant energies ofthe N layers.

FIG. 10J shows a cross-sectional view and FIG. 10K shows the dopingprofile that would obtain if only the 12V implant were performed throughthe field oxide layers in the structure of FIG. 10B.

FIG. 10L is a graph showing the field threshold voltage of an N well asa function of the thickness of a field oxide layer for various levels ofdoping concentration below the field oxide layer.

FIG. 11A is a cross-sectional view of a conventional P well formed in aP epitaxial layer grown on a P substrate.

FIG. 11B is a cross-sectional view of a 5V P well formed in accordancewith the invention.

FIG. 11C shows the doping profile at cross-section 11A-11A′ of FIG. 11A.

FIG. 11D shows the doping profile at cross-section 11B-11B′ of FIG. 11B.

FIG. 11E shows the doping profile at cross-section 11C-11C′ of FIG. 11A.

FIG. 11F shows the doping profile at cross-section 11D-11D′ of FIG. 11B.

FIG. 11G is a cross-sectional view of a modified version of thestructure shown in FIG. 11A with a guard ring under the field oxidelayer.

FIG. 11H is a cross-sectional view of a 12V P well formed in accordancewith the invention.

FIG. 11I shows the doping profile at cross-section 11E-11E′ of FIG. 11G.

FIG. 11J shows the doping profile at cross-section 11G-11G′ of FIG. 11H.

FIG. 11K shows the doping profile at cross-section 11F-11F′ of FIG. 11G.

FIG. 11L shows the doping profile at cross-section 11H-1H′ of FIG. 11H.

FIG. 12A is a cross-sectional view showing how the breakdown voltagebetween an N buried layer and a shallow P+ region is determined in aconventional structure.

FIG. 12B is a cross-sectional view showing how the breakdown voltagebetween an implanted deep N layer and a shallow P+ region is determinedin a structure according to this invention.

FIG. 12C is a graph of the breakdown voltages in the structures of FIGS.12A and 12B as a function of the separation between the N layer and theshallow P+ region.

FIGS. 13A and 13B show two conventional techniques for forming anisolated pocket in an epitaxial layer.

FIG. 13C shows the doping profile at cross-section 13A-13A′ of FIG. 13A.

FIG. 13D shows the doping profile at cross-section 13B-13B′ of FIG. 13B.

FIGS. 13E and 13F show two conventional techniques for forming anisolated pocket in a substrate in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 13G shows the doping profile at cross-section 13C-13C′ of FIGS. 13Eand 13F.

FIG. 13H shows the doping profile at cross-section 13D-13D′ of FIG. 13E.

FIG. 13I shows the doping profile at cross-section 13E-13E′ of FIG. 13F.

FIG. 14A is a cross-sectional view of how a single deep N layer can beused to isolate complementary wells.

FIG. 14B is a cross-sectional view of a structure similar to that shownin FIG. 14A, except that the deep N layer is restricted to the areaunder the 5V P well.

FIG. 14C is a plan view of the structure of FIG. 14A.

FIG. 14D is a plan view of an alternative structure wherein the P wellguard ring touches the isolated structure.

FIG. 14E is a plan view of the structure of FIG. 14B.

FIG. 14F is a cross-sectional view showing an N+ contact region that isused to contact a portion of the N well and the deep N layer through anopening in the field oxide layer.

FIG. 14G is a plan view of the N+ contact region shown in FIG. 14F.

FIG. 14H is a cross-sectional view showing an N+ contact region that isused to contact a deep N layer that isolates a pocket of a P substrate.

FIG. 14I is a cross-sectional view of a deep N layer that extends arounda 5V N well and towards the surface of a P substrate, under a fieldoxide layer.

FIG. 14J is a cross-sectional view of a structure similar to that shownin FIG. 14I, except that the deep N layer is restricted to the areadirectly below the 5V N well.

FIG. 14K is a cross-sectional view illustrating the vertical parasiticbipolar transistor that is formed if the deep N layer is allowed toextend laterally.

FIG. 14L is a cross-sectional view illustrating the tilted parasiticbipolar transistor that is formed if the deep N layer is laterallyrestricted.

FIG. 14M is a cross-sectional view showing how a deep N layer can beused a single 5V P well, with sidewalls from a 5V N layer.

FIG. 14N is a cross-sectional view showing how, if the 5V N layer ofFIG. 14M is made wide enough, the parasitic bipolar transistor is madevertical.

FIG. 14O is a cross-sectional view showing how, if the 5V N layer ofFIG. 14M is made narrow enough, the parasitic bipolar transistor is madehorizontal.

FIG. 14P is a cross-sectional view showing how, if the 5V N layer ofFIG. 14M is omitted, a resistive connection is formed between the P welland the P substrate.

FIG. 15A is a cross-sectional view showing two 12V P wells and one 12V Nwell isolated from a P substrate by a single deep N layer.

FIG. 15B is a cross-sectional view showing a single 12V P well isolatedfrom a P substrate by a deep N layer and two sidewalls formed of 5V Nlayers, separated from a surrounding P guard ring.

FIG. 15C is a cross-sectional view of a structure similar to that shownin FIG. 15B, except that the isolation sidewalls include a 12V N layer.

FIG. 15D is a cross-sectional view of a 12V N well isolated from a Psubstrate by a deep N layer that extends to the sides of the 12V N well.

FIG. 15E is a cross-sectional view showing that an adjacent 12V N welland 12V P well can touch and still meet the breakdown condition at thesurface.

FIG. 15F is a cross-sectional view of a structure similar to that shownin FIG. 15E, except that a 5V N layer and a 5V P layer have beenintroduced between the 12V N well and the 12V P well.

FIG. 16A is a cross-sectional view of two isolated 5V N wells, eachassociated with a complementary P well, biased by two different voltagesand operated independently of each other.

FIG. 16B is a plan view of the structure shown in FIG. 16A.

FIG. 16C is a schematic circuit diagram of the structure shown in FIG.16A.

FIG. 16D is a cross-sectional view of a structure similar to that shownin FIG. 16A, except that one complementary set of wells is a 5V pair andthe other set of complementary wells is a 12V pair.

FIG. 16E is a schematic circuit diagram of the structure shown in FIG.16D.

FIG. 16F is a plan view of the structure shown in FIG. 16D.

FIG. 17A is a flow diagram summarizing a conventional process forforming doped regions in a semiconductor material.

FIG. 17B is a flow diagram summarizing a process for forming dopedregions in a semiconductor material in accordance with this invention.

FIG. 17C shows a typical Gaussian doping profile that is produced by aconventional implant and diffusion process.

FIG. 17D shows a doping profile that is produced by a “chained” implant.

FIG. 17E shows detailed view of a doping profile of two chainedimplants.

FIG. 17F shows detailed view of a doping profile of the two chainedimplants shown in FIG. 17E, performed though an oxide layer on thesurface of the substrate.

FIG. 17G shows detailed view of a doping profile of two chained implantswhere the peak doping concentration of the deep implant is greater thanthe peak doping concentration of the shallow implant.

FIG. 17H shows detailed view of a doping profile of the two chainedimplants shown in FIG. 17G, performed though an oxide layer on thesurface of the substrate.

FIG. 17I shows the doping profile that results from combining the fourimplants of FIGS. 17E and 17G.

FIG. 17J shows the doping profile that results from combining the fourimplants of FIGS. 17F and 17H.

FIGS. 17K and 17L illustrate the physical phenomenon that an implant ofa given dose spreads out more as it is implanted deeper into a substrateand therefore has a lower peak concentration.

FIG. 17M shows the doping profile that would result if the implants ofFIGS. 17K and 17L were carried out in the same substrate.

FIG. 17N shows a doping profile of a series of five implants, eachhaving the same dose but implanted at a different energy.

FIG. 17O shows a doping profile of two implants, with the deeper implanthaving a greater dose such that the peak concentration of the implantsis approximately the same.

FIG. 17Q is a cross-sectional view showing a series of implants througha window in a photoresist layer, showing the lateral spreading of theimplants in the substrate.

FIG. 17R is a cross-sectional view similar to that shown in FIG. 17Q,except that the dopant is implanted into a region between two trenchesfilled with a nonconductive material to restrict the lateral spreadingof the dopants.

FIG. 17S is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 17R, except that thedeepest dopant is implanted to a level below the two trenches, allowingit to spread laterally.

FIG. 17T is a cross-sectional view of the implanted region that resultsfrom the series of implants shown in FIG. 17S.

FIG. 17U is a view of a series of chained P-type implants performedthrough an N-type epitaxial layer to a P-type substrate.

FIG. 17V is a view of the doping profile obtained from the implantsshown in FIG. 17U.

FIG. 17W is a view of a series of chained implants similar to thoseshown in FIG. 17U except that the implants are constrained by a pair ofdielectric-filled trenches.

FIG. 17X is a view of the doping profile obtained from the implantsshown in FIG. 17W.

FIG. 17Y shows a CIJI sidewall isolation region comprising a series ofimplants into a P-substrate which overlaps onto a deep implanted N-typefloor isolation region in an annular or ring pattern to form an isolatedpocket separated from the common substrate.

FIG. 17Z is a view of the doping profile obtained from the implantsshown in FIG. 17Y.

FIG. 17AA illustrates the use of dielectric-filled trenches to constrainthe lateral straggle of the implants shown in FIG. 17Y.

FIG. 17BB is a view of the doping profile obtained from the implantsshown in FIG. 17AA.

FIGS. 18A-1 to 18A-4, 18B-1 to 18B-4, and 18C-18H are cross-sectionalviews of a “device arsenal” that can be fabricated simultaneously in asubstrate using a process of this invention.

FIG. 18A-1 shows a 5V PMOS and a 5V NMOS.

FIG. 18A-2 shows a 12V PMOS and a 12V NMOS.

FIG. 18A-3 shows 5V NPN and a portion of a 5V PNP.

FIG. 18A-4 shows the remaining portion of the 5V PNP, a 30V channel stopand a 30V lateral trench DMOS.

FIG. 18B-1 shows a 12V symmetrical isolated PMOS.

FIG. 18B-2 shows a 12V symmetrical isolated NMOS and a poly-to-polycapacitor.

FIG. 18B-3 shows an NPN with P-base mask (not standard).

FIG. 18B-4 shows a 12V channel stop and a 12V lateral trench DMOS.

FIG. 18C shows a 5V CMOS pair.

FIG. 18D shows a lateral trench MOSFET that contains alternating mesasthat contain a P body region, with a single deep N layer underlying allof the mesas.

FIG. 18E shows a lateral trench MOSFET similar to that shown in FIG.18D, except that separate deep N layers underlie only the mesas thatcontain no P body region.

FIG. 18F shows a lateral trench MOSFET similar to that shown in FIG.18D, except that all of the mesas except one contain a P body region.

FIG. 18G shows a 30V lateral N-channel DMOS.

FIG. 18H shows a shows a lateral P-channel DMOS.

FIGS. 19A-19H are equivalent circuit diagrams of some of the devicesshown in FIGS. 18A-1 to 18A-4, 18B-1 to 18B-4 and 18C-18H.

FIG. 19A shows the 5V CMOS shown in FIG. 18A-1.

FIG. 19B shows the 12V CMOS shown in FIG. 18A-2.

FIG. 19C shows the 5V NPN shown in FIG. 18A-3.

FIG. 19D shows the 5V PNP shown in FIGS. 18A-3 and 18A-4.

FIG. 19E shows the 30V trench lateral DMOS shown in FIG. 18A-4.

FIG. 19F shows the poly-to-poly capacitor shown in FIG. 18B-2.

FIG. 19G shows a poly resistor (not shown in FIGS. 18A-18H.

FIG. 19H shows the 30V lateral DMOS shown in FIG. 18G.

FIGS. 20A-20B show a flow diagram of a process in accordance with thisinvention.

FIGS. 21-67 illustrate the steps of a process for fabricating several ofthe devices shown in FIGS. 18A-1 to 18A-4, 18B-1 to 18B-4, and 18C-18H,including the 5V CMOS, the 5V NPN and 5V PNP (high F_(T) layout), the 5VNPN and 5V PNP (conventional layout), the 30V lateral trench CMOS, andthe symmetrical 12V CMOS. The letter suffix of each drawing numberindicates the device to which it pertains, as follows:

Suffix Device “A” 5 V CMOS (FIG. 18A-1) “B” 5 V NPN and 5 V PNP (highF_(T) layout) (FIGS. 18A-3 and 18A-4) “C” 5 V NPN and 5 V PNP(conventional layout) (not shown) “D” 30 V lateral trench DMOS (FIG.18A-4) “E” Symmetrical 12 V CMOS (FIGS. 18B-1 and 18B-2)

Generally, drawings are not included for steps which do not affect theultimate structure of the device. For example, where a layer is formedthat will later be removed with affecting the structure of theunderlying substrate, no drawing is included. As a result, the lettersuffixes of the drawings are not sequential.

FIG. 21 shows the growth of a first pad oxide layer on the substrate.

FIGS. 22A-22E shows the deposition and patterning of a nitride mask.

FIGS. 23A-23E shows the growth of a field oxide layer.

FIGS. 24A-24E show the growth of a second pad oxide layer on thesubstrate.

FIG. 25D shows the formation and patterning of a trench hard mask.

FIG. 26D shows the growth of a sacrificial oxide layer.

FIG. 27D shows the growth of a trench gate oxide.

FIG. 28D shows the deposition of a first polysilicon layer.

FIG. 29D shows the first etchback of the first polysilicon layer.

FIG. 30D shows the removal of the trench hard mask and the deposition ofa second polysilicon layer.

FIG. 31D shows the second etchback of the first polysilicon layer.

FIG. 32D shows the deposition of the second polysilicon layer.

FIG. 33D shows the formation of a first interlayer dielectric.

FIG. 34D shows the etchback of the first interlayer dielectric and thesecond polysilicon layer.

FIGS. 35A-35E show the formation of the deep N mask and the implantingof the deep N layer.

FIG. 36D shows the first stage of the implanting of the N drift region.

FIG. 37D shows the second stage of the implanting of the N drift region.

FIG. 38E shows the first stage of the implanting of the 12V N well.

FIG. 39E shows the second stage of the implanting of the 12V N well.

FIGS. 40A-40E show the first stage of the implanting of the 5V N well.

FIGS. 41A-41E show the second stage of the implanting of the 5V N well.

FIGS. 42A-42E show the third stage of the implanting of the 5V N well.

FIGS. 43B, 43C and 43E show the first stage of the implanting of the 12VP well.

FIGS. 44B, 44C and 44E show the second stage of the implanting of the12V P well.

FIGS. 45A-45C and 45E show the first stage of the implanting of the 5V Pwell.

FIGS. 46A-46C and 46E show the second stage of the implanting of the 5VP well.

FIG. 47D shows the formation of an etch-block mask and the etching ofthe active regions of the planar devices.

FIGS. 48A and 48E show the formation of the first gate oxide layer forthe planar devices.

FIGS. 49A and 49E show the first stage of the threshold adjust implant.

FIGS. 50A and 50E show the second stage of the threshold adjust implantand the removal of the first planar gate oxide layer.

FIGS. 51A and 51E show the formation of the second gate oxide layer forthe planar devices.

FIGS. 52A, 52D and 52E show the deposition of the third polysiliconlayer.

FIGS. 53A, 53D and 53E show the formation of the gates of the planardevices.

FIGS. 54A-54E show the formation of N-base mask and implanting of theN-base regions.

FIG. 55D shows the formation of the P body mask and the first stage ofthe implanting of the P body regions.

FIG. 56D shows the second stage of the implanting of the P body regions.

FIG. 57E shows the masking and implanting of the P lightly-doped drain(P-LDD) regions for the 12V devices.

FIG. 58E shows the masking and implanting of the N lightly-doped drain(N-LDD) regions for the 12V devices.

FIGS. 59A-59D show the masking and implanting of the P lightly-dopeddrain (P-LDD) regions for the 5V devices.

FIGS. 60A-60D show the masking and implanting of the N lightly-dopeddrain (N-LDD) regions for the 5V devices.

FIGS. 61A, 61D and 61E show the formation of oxide sidewall spacers onthe gates of the planar devices.

FIGS. 62A-62E show the masking and implanting of the P+ regions.

FIGS. 63A-63E show the masking and implanting of the N+ regions.

FIGS. 64A-64E show the deposition and etching of the second interlayerdielectric.

FIGS. 65A-65E show the masking and implanting of the N-plugs.

FIGS. 66A-66E show the masking and implanting of the P-plugs.

FIGS. 67A-67E show the formation and patterning of a metal layer.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The problems of the prior art are overcome in a modular process whichinvolves minimal thermal processing and in which the steps can beperformed in almost any sequence. As a result, the devices can betightly packed and shallow. In addition, the process allows the dopingprofiles of the doped regions to be set to meet virtually anyspecification, offering better control of conduction characteristics,electric fields, parasitics, hot carriers, snapback breakdown, noise,threshold (turn-on characteristics), and switching speed.

In many embodiments there is no epitaxial layer and so the variability(and higher manufacturing cost) introduced by epitaxial growth is notpresent. Moreover, the voltage capability of any given device can bechosen and implemented to be completely different than other integrateddevices on the same IC without affecting those devices whatsoever. Thepacking density of devices in 5V circuitry, for example, is not affectedby the integration of 30V devices on the same IC. Devices of specificvoltage ratings can be added or removed from a design without affectingother components and their electrical models or requiring modificationor “re-tuning” of a circuit design and its intended operation.

The process of this invention allows the fabrication ofmetal-oxide-silicon (MOS) devices and bipolar devices that arecompletely isolated from the substrate and from each other and thereforecan “float” at any potential with respect to ground. The maximum voltageat which a component may float above ground (the substrate) need not beequal to the rating of the device itself. For example a pocket of dense5V components can float 30V above ground without affecting the designrules of the 5V section of the layout.

The process of this invention also includes the formation of narrowjunction isolation regions using a low thermal budget process ofmultiple ion implantations of differing energies, commonly through asingle mask opening, to avoid the need for substantial diffusion times,and likewise to avoid the adverse effects of the lateral diffusion ofisolation and sinker regions (wasting space). The low thermal budgetprocess also avoids the problems associated with the unwantedupdiffusion of buried or deep layers (or the substrate) which, usingconventional fabrication methods, generally requires the growth of eventhicker epitaxial layers.

The process of forming a doped region through a sequence of successiveimplants of multiple energies (generally through a single mask) isherein referred to as a “chained implant.” In one aspect of thisinvention a single-mask chained implant is used to form an isolationstructure as the sidewall isolation of an isolated pocket. Such anisolation structure is herein referred to as “chained-implant junctionisolation” (or CIJI for short). The CIJI sidewall isolation structuremay be formed by two or more implants (with five to six being preferredfor deeper isolations) and may be used in conjunction with an epitaxiallayer or used in an all implanted epi-less isolation structure. In someinstances the CIJI structure is combined with an oxide-filled trench tofurther narrow the lateral extent of the isolation doping.

Another feature of this invention is the ability to form fully isolateddevices (including CMOS and bipolars of differing voltage) without theneed for epitaxy. Such “epi-less” isolation combines a CIJI sidewallisolation structure in a ring, annular, or square donut-shape structureoverlapping a deeply implanted floor isolation or buried dopant regionhaving the same conductivity type as the CIJI sidewall isolation. Unlikedevices made in epitaxial processes, the deep layers are not formed atthe interface between a substrate and epitaxial layer, but by implantingthe deep floor isolation dopant at high energies. An isolated pocket,having the same concentration and conductivity type as the originalsubstrate, is the result of such a process. The content of such anisolated pocket may contain any number of doped regions of either P-typeor N-type polarity including CMOS N well and P well regions, bipolarbase regions, DMOS body regions, or heavily-doped source/drain regions.As used herein, the term “annular” refers to any structure that extendsdownward from the surface of the substrate and laterally surrounds anarea of the substrate. Viewed from above, the annular structure may becircular (doughnut-shaped), or it may be oval, rectangular, polygonal,or any other shape.

Another attribute of this invention is the ability to form well regionsof differing concentration, and hence voltage capability, within acommon substrate. In each case, the dopant profile is chosen to have alow enough concentration to meet required junction breakdown voltages,yet still allow the integration of a high performance active device. Inthe case of a CMOS for example, the well has a retrograde profile with ahigher subsurface concentration that is chosen to prevent bulkpunchthrough breakdown, and a lighter surface concentration balancing alow threshold against surface punchthrough, yet still allow subsequentthreshold adjusting implants to be performed immediately before (orimmediately after) polysilicon gate formation.

In one embodiment of this invention, these wells, along with thedeep-implanted floor isolation, are implanted after the formation offield oxide regions. The implant energies and oxide thickness are chosenso that some of the wells' multiple implants penetrate the overlyingfield oxide regions and other portions may be blocked (or partiallyblocked) from reaching the silicon. The implants therefore follow thetopography of the field oxide, being shallower where the oxide isthicker and deeper in active areas. The oxide thickness is chosen to bethick enough such that, when combined with the ion implanted layers, itexhibits a field threshold sufficiently high to prevent the formation ofsurface channels and parasitic MOSFET conduction. This goal ispreferably accomplished by selection and dose of the buried orretrograde portion of a well implant, which can be chosen to produce asurface concentration under the field oxide high enough to raise thefield threshold of the parasitic MOSFETs.

This multi-implant approach relies on maintaining a low thermal budget,so that the dopants remain substantially where they are initiallyimplanted. Such “as-implanted” structures allow multiple implants to beused to “program” any given well region to produce a device having apredetermined voltage rating, e.g. a 5V NPN or a 12V PMOS, or a 3V NMOS.Moreover, the minimum feature size of low voltage well regions may infact be drawn at smaller feature sizes than in higher voltage wellsbecause the doping of the low voltage well regions can be optimized toprevent punchthrough and short channel effects in the low voltagedevices without affecting the other devices.

Initially, we describe a series of process steps by which N wells and Pwells can be isolated from the substrate and from each other. Forpurposes of explanation, we assume the fabrication of a 5V N well, a 5VP well, a 12V N well, and a 12V P well. By “5V” and “12V” we refer to awell that is doped to a concentration and doping profile that allows thefabrication of a junction within the well that can withstand a reversebias of the specified voltage and further that devices within the wellwill not leak or communicate with other devices so long as they areoperated at the specified voltage level. In general, a 12V well is morelightly doped and deeper than a 5V well. In reality, a 5V well might beable to hold devices that can operate up to 7V, and a 12V well might beable to hold devices that can operate up to 15V. Thus “5V” and “12V” aresomewhat arbitrary designations and generally used to describe thenominal voltage supply where such a device is meant to operate.

Furthermore, it will be understood that “5V” and “12V” represent,respectively, a well having a relatively low breakdown voltage and awell having a relatively high breakdown voltage. The voltages need notbe 5V and 12V. For example, in another embodiment the “low voltage” wellcould be a 1V well and the “high voltage” well could be a 3V well.Another embodiment of particular interest is combining 3V devices with5V devices on the same IC. In the event these devices are CMOS, the 3Vdevices may be constructed and optimized using a minimum gate dimensionof 0.25 microns, while the 5V device may use a minimum dimension of 0.35microns, so long as the wafer fabrication equipment is capable ofphotolithographically resolving, defining, and etching the smaller ofthe two feature sizes. Moreover, although we describe wells having twovoltage ratings, it will be apparent that the invention applies toarrangements that include wells with three or more voltage ratings.

As background, FIG. 7A illustrates the doping profile of a diffusedN-type well formed in a P-type substrate according to the prior art. Thetop portion is a graph of the doping concentration (vertical axis) as afunction of the depth below the surface of the substrate (horizontalaxis). The bottom portion is a physical representation of the N well inthe P substrate which conforms with the horizontal axis of the graph. Asis apparent, the doping concentration of the N well is at a maximum ator very near the surface of the substrate and decreases as a Gaussianfunction with increasing depth in the substrate until it reaches zero atthe depth “x_(j)”, which represents the PN junction between the N welland the P substrate. This Gaussian doping profile is essentiallyunchangeable in wells than are formed by ion implantation and thermaldiffusion. In practice, it is very limiting, because one cannot getdopant to a deep level without altering the concentration at the surfaceand because the depletion region formed around the junction between theN well and P substrate will spread very quickly into the N well becausethe doping concentration is relatively low directly above the junction,which could cause interactions between the junction and other junctionswithin the N well. Also since the highest concentration is located atthe surface, the lowest junction breakdowns may occur at the siliconsurface (exacerbating the surface electric fields which are alreadyhigher due to the presence of the silicon dioxide and various conductorsleading to field plate effects) and where damage to dielectric from hotcarriers may result. Thus, in many situations it would be desirable tohave a well with a non-Gaussian doping profile.

FIG. 7B shows similar information when an N layer has been implanted inthe N well in an active area of the substrate at a higher energy thanthat used to implant the N well. “NW5” represents the diffused N well,and “NW5B” represents the implanted N layer. As indicated, the dopingconcentration in the N well declines as shown in FIG. 7A until itreaches the N layer, where it actually increases (and may then flattenout) until it reaches the P substrate. The concentration of the buriedregion may be 20% higher than the top well's peak concentration or insome instances it may be double the concentration. FIG. 7C shows thestructure of FIG. 7B in an inactive area of the substrate, where the Psubstrate is covered by a field oxide layer (Fox). Here, the original Nwell is substantially blocked by the field oxide layer, and all that isvisible within the silicon portion of the device is the N layer “NW5B”.In accordance with one aspect of this invention, this concept is used tofabricate a variety of completely isolated devices, with differentvoltage ratings, on a single substrate, using a minimal number ofprocessing steps. That is to say, the field oxide layer and the implantenergies are engineered such that a subsurface layer of enhancedconductivity is formed in the active regions of the substrate, and thatsame layer is formed at or near the surface of the substrate under afield oxide layer in the inactive areas of the substrate. This layerhelps to suppress parasitic interactions between transistors formed inthe substrate without requiring added field threshold implants under thefield oxides. Such field implants are undesirable, since being implantedprior to field oxidation, substantial diffusion of field thresholdimplants occurs during field oxidation. The lateral diffusion of fieldthreshold implants in conventional methods thereby interferes withoperation of devices, especially narrow or short ones, and prevents thebenefit of maximizing device packing densities from being fullyrealized. Using the buried well doping to help achieve higher fieldthreshold is therefore advantageous in comparison with olderconventional prior art methods.

In the embodiment described herein, five implants are used to form avariety of device structures: a 5V N well implant NW5, a 5V P wellimplant PW5, a 5V N layer NW5B, a 5V P layer PW5B, and a deep N layerDN. Each one of these implants could be a single implant or series or“chain” of implants at particular doses and energies designed to achievea particular doping profile for the implant.

FIG. 8A is a cross-sectional view and FIG. 8B is a schematic view of twoMOSFETs M10 and M20 formed adjacent to each other in a P substrate.MOSFET M10 has a source S10, a drain D10 and a gate G10. MOSFET M20 hasa source S20, a drain D20 and a gate G20. The background dopingconcentration of the P substrate is NA. A field oxide layer having athickness X_(OX) is located between source S10 and drain D20. Asindicated in FIG. 8B, charge on the surface of the field oxide layer cancreate a parasitic MOSFET M30 between MOSFETs M10 and M20, and thisparasitic MOSFET M30 can conduct current if the voltage of source S10 isdifferent from the voltage of drain D20. The only way to ensure that theparasitic MOSFET M30 does not conduct current is to make sure that thecombination of the thickness X_(OX) of the field oxide layer and thedoping concentration beneath the field oxide layer are such that theparasitic MOSFET M30 has a threshold voltage that is high enough toprevent it from turning on at the rated voltage of the arrangement plusa margin of safety. This is referred to as the “field threshold” of thedevice, i.e., the threshold voltage of a parasitic MOSFET in the fieldoxide area that separates the active areas of the substrate.

FIG. 9A shows a conventional structure with a P epitaxial (P-epi) layer502 formed on a P substrate 500. An N buried layer (NBL) 504 is formedby conventional means at the interface between P-epi layer 502 and Psubstrate 500, by implanting an N-type dopant such as phosphorus into Psubstrate 500 before P-epi layer 502 is formed. An N well 506 overlaps Nburied layer 504. A field oxide layer 508 is formed between active areas512 and 514, and a field dopant region 510 is formed under field oxidelayer 508 to raise the field threshold voltage and thereby preventconduction between MOSFETs (not shown) formed in active areas 512 and514, respectively. Despite being self-aligned to the field oxide region508, field implant 510 naturally diffuses into the active areas 512 and514 and may adversely affect the electrical characteristics of devicesproduced in those regions. FIG. 9C shows the doping profile throughcross-section 9A-9A′, the active area 512, and FIG. 9E shows the dopingprofile through cross-section 9C-9C′, the field oxide layer 508. In bothcases, the N buried layer 504 is relatively thick, e.g., 1 to 3 μm thickand in some cases as thick as 5 μm, and extends relatively deep into Psubstrate 500, e.g., 6 to 10 μm below the surface, and also diffuseslaterally by comparable amounts.

FIG. 9B shows a greatly improved alternative structure consistent withthe inventive methods disclosed herein in which the field oxide layer508 is formed directly in P substrate 500. A 5V N well NW5 is implantedand diffused in active areas 512 and 514, and an N layer NW5B issubsequently implanted, or preferably NW5 and NW5B are formed using achained implant where the energy of the NW5 implant is chosen so that itcannot penetrate field oxide 508, but where NW5B has an implant energysufficient to penetrate field oxide 508 and reach the silicon surface.Depending on the field oxide thickness the buried implant may beimplanted at a 20% to 200% higher dose than the top well with as much as1.5 to 3 times the energy of the top well implant.

As described above in connection with FIGS. 7A-7C, layer NW5B providesisolation for devices formed in active areas 512 and 514 where layerNW5B is below the surface, and also provides field doping below fieldoxide layer 508 where layer NW5B approaches or is centered on thesurface. In FIG. 9B, the retrograde portion of the 5V N well (i.e. NW5B)is therefore subsurface in active regions 512 and 514 but reaches thesurface under field oxide 508. Because the region of NW5B is implantedthrough field oxide 508, and reaches the surface under field oxide 508(and only under field oxide regions), the heavily doped portion of theimplant is “self aligned” to the field oxide with virtually no lateraldiffusion, and contours itself to the shape of the LOCOS slope (bird'sbeak). FIG. 9D shows the doping profile at cross-section 9B-9B′ wherethe lower edge of layer NW5B is relatively shallow, e.g., only 1.5 to 4μm below the surface. FIG. 9F shows the doping profile at cross-section9D-9D′ under the field oxide, where only the N layer NW5B is presentwithin the silicon.

Thus FIGS. 9A-9F show that using a single implanted layer to provideisolation in the active regions and a field dopant in the inactiveregions produces a much shallower, tighter structure than using anepitaxially-formed buried layer in the active areas and a separate fielddopant in the inactive areas. Moreover, the improved structure shownfollows the topography of the field oxide, a characteristic notexhibited by the diffused well process. One unique challenge of theinventive approach herein is to use this concept in a structure withboth 5V and 12V devices or with any combination of integrated devices ofdiffering voltages. In so doing, it is also important to minimize thevariability of the device laterally through self-alignment andvertically through the use of ion implanted subsurface layers ratherthan epitaxial buried layers.

FIG. 10A shows a conventional 12V structure that is formed in a P-epilayer 516 grown on P substrate 500. P-epi layer 516 would typically bethicker than P-epi layer 506, shown in FIG. 9A. Two N buried layers 518and 520 are formed at the interface of P-epi layer 516 and P substrate500. N buried layer 518 is formed with a relatively slow-diffusingdopant such as antimony or arsenic and N buried layer 520 is formed of arelatively fast-diffusing dopant such as phosphorus. An N well 530overlaps N buried layer 520, and a field oxide layer 508 separatesactive regions 526 and 528. To raise the field threshold, a field dopant12V guard ring 524 underlies field oxide layer 508.

The 12V N-type guard ring is generally not self-aligned to field oxide508. With misalignment, the guard ring may overlap into active areas 526or 528 and adversely affect the electrical characteristics of devicesproduced in those regions. In extreme cases of misalignment, the guardring can lower the breakdown voltage of the device produced in the Nwell below its 15V (12V operating) required rating. Even if guard ring524 were somehow self-aligned to the field oxide region 508, implant 524naturally diffuses laterally into the active areas 526 and 528 and mayadversely affect the electrical characteristics of devices produced inthose regions. To prevent this problem, the minimum dimension of fieldoxide 508 must then be increased, lowering the packing density of thedevices.

FIG. 10C shows the active-area doping profile at cross-section 10A-10A′and FIG. 10E shows the non-active area doping profile at cross-section10C-10C′. Since the N+ buried layer is located at the epi-substrateinterface and the N well is diffused from the top of the epitaxiallayer, the degree of overlap between the buried layer and the N well ishighly variable. If the fast-diffusing lighter-concentration NBL₂ layer(520) were not present, higher concentration NBL₁ (518) would have tooverlap onto N well 530, and including variation in epitaxial thickness,could degrade the breakdown of devices formed in N well 530.

Moreover, the dopant profile of the 12V N well shown in FIGS. 10A and10C is dramatically different from the dopant profile of the 5V N wellshown in FIGS. 9A and 9C because the heavier doped buried layer must belocated farther from the surface in the 12V device. If the 12V N well ofFIG. 10A were used to fabricate a 5V device (normally made in an N welllike that of FIG. 9A), the buried layer would have less effect inimproving the 5V device because it is too deep to influence a lowervoltage device. Using a 12V N well, the snapback breakdown in a 5V PMOSwould be worse, as would the collector resistance in a 5V NPN. So the Nwell and NBL structure needed for optimizing 5V devices is differentthan that of 12V devices. Since the epitaxial thickness of bothprocesses is different, the conventional 5V N well/buried-layer of FIG.9A and the 12V N well/buried-layer of FIG. 10A are incompatible andmutually exclusive in a single epitaxial deposition process.

FIG. 10B shows a 12V structure in accordance with the invention. 12V Nwells NW12 are implanted and diffused into P substrate 500 after fieldoxide layer 508 is grown, separating active areas 526 and 528. Given theenhanced concentration of N layer NW5B, field oxide layer 508 musttherefore be thick enough to meet the 12V criteria as well as the 5Vcriteria. The doping concentration on 12V N well NW12 is lighter thanthe doping of 5V N wells NW5. An N layer NW12B is implanted and forms anisolation layer for the 12V N wells in active areas 526 and 528 andapproaches the surface under field oxide layer 508. Because the 12V Nwell NW12 is relatively deep, N layer NW12B must be implanted at ahigher energy than N layer NW5B. Because of the implant energy of Nlayer NW12B and the thickness of field oxide layer 508, however, N layerNW12B does not reach the surface of P substrate under field oxide layer508. Instead there is a gap, which would allow the parasitic MOSFETrepresented by field oxide layer 508 to turn on and allow a leakagecurrent between active areas 526 and 528. To fill this gap, thestructure is masked, and the N layer NW5B is allowed to pass throughfield oxide layer 508, forming an additional guard ring and yielding thestructure shown in FIG. 10B. Thus the dose of N layer NW5B must be setto prevent inversion under field oxide layer 522 between the 12Vdevices.

The NW5B implant is not self aligned to the field oxide 508. Even so, itremains less sensitive to misalignment than guard ring 524 in FIG. 10A,since it is implanted after the formation of field oxide 508 andtherefore follows the topography of the field oxide, (meaning it isdeeper in active regions and less likely to adversely influence theoperation of a device formed in NW12). Furthermore, the lateraldiffusion of NW5B is minimal since it sees no high temperatureprocessing unlike guard ring 524 (which necessarily experiences theentire field oxidation drive in diffusion cycle. FIG. 10D shows theactive area doping profile at cross-section 10B-10B′ and FIG. 10F showsthe doping profile at non-active area cross-section 10D-10D′.

Both active and field dopant profiles illustrate the compactwell-controlled minimally-diffused well structure of an “as-implanted”low thermal-budget process. In this method 12V devices can be producedusing wells as shallow as a few microns. FIG. 10F shows how N layersNW5B and NW12B overlap under field oxide layer 508 in the 12V area. Nlayer NW12B could extend only 1.5 μm below the surface of P substrate500. This shallow depth is obtained because there is no substantialthermal budget to redistribute the dopants. In contrast, the very thickN buried layer 520 of FIG. 10C and FIG. 10E could extend 10 to 14 μmbelow the surface.

Since N layer NW5B was already used in the 5V areas (FIG. 9B) theintroduction of N layer NW5B in the 12V areas does not require anadditional implant or masking step. This distinguishes the process ofthis invention from the prior art shown in FIG. 10A, where a dedicatedfield dopant 524 must be implanted in a separate masking and implantstep. Moreover the process of this invention allows the integration ofboth 5V N well regions NW5 and 12V N well regions NW12 withoutcomplication or interaction since it remains an all integrated process.As stated above, the use of conventional epitaxially formed buried layerstructures for integrating 5V and 12V devices is problematic, since eachtype of device requires a different epitaxial thickness.

FIGS. 10G-10I show how the doping profiles at cross-section 10D-10D′ canbe varied by altering the energies at which N layers NW5B and NW12B areimplanted. In FIG. 10G either the implant energy of N layer NW5B hasbeen increased or the implant energy of N layer NW12B has been reducedand as a result the overlap between these layers is increased. In FIG.10G either the implant energy of N layer NW5B has been reduced or theimplant energy of N layer NW12B has been increased and as a result theoverlap between these layers is eliminated, with the background dopingof the 12 v N well prevailing in the area between the two layers. InFIG. 10I the dose of the implant of N layer NW12B has been reduced togive a doping profile that is more similar to Gaussian. The as-implantedlow-thermal budget method of this invention offers many advantages overthe conventional epitaxial IC process since these dopant profiles do notrequire changes in an epitaxial process that could affect other deviceson the same IC.

FIG. 10J is a cross-sectional view and FIG. 10K is a doping profiletaken at cross-section 10D-10D′ that show what the result would be if Nlayer NW5B were not implanted through field oxide layer 508 in the 12Vareas. As indicated above, there would be a gap between the upper edgeof N layer NW12B and the lower surface of field oxide layer 508, whichwould allow a leakage current to flow between active areas 526 and 528,unless oxide 508 were excessively thick. Thick field oxide, however,suffers from a long bird's beak (the sloped portion of the oxide) area,and therefore is undesirable for and incompatible with densely packedlow voltage devices needed on the same IC.

FIG. 10L is a graph showing the field threshold voltage (V_(tf)) of an Nwell as a function of the thickness of the field oxide layer for variouslevels of doping concentration (ND₁, ND₂, etc.) below the field oxidelayer. As indicated, for a given doping concentration the fieldthreshold increases roughly linearly with field oxide thickness. Themaximum oxide thickness (X_(FOX) (max)) is set by topological andprocess conditions and by the need to achieve good packing densities inthe lower voltage devices. The minimum field threshold is set at 5V or12V plus some margin of safety (δ). The maximum doping concentration isset by the minimum breakdown voltage (BV_(min)) and decreases withincreasing BV_(min). Thus a given set of conditions define a triangle.The triangle is relatively large for a minimum field threshold andbreakdown voltage of 5V+δ, i.e., the area bounded by X_(FOX)=X_(FOX)(max), V_(tf)=5V+δ, and a doping concentration equal to ND₁₂. Thetriangle is very small, however, for a minimum field threshold andbreakdown voltage of 12V+δ, i.e., the area bounded by X_(FOX)=X_(FOX)(max), V_(tf)=12V+δ, and a doping concentration equal to ND₉. However,implanting the N layer NW5B under the field oxide layer to assist withraising the field threshold in the 12V regions, but not allowing layerNW5B to get into the active areas increases the field dopingconcentration without reducing the breakdown voltage. In effect, thisincreases the size of the triangle, i.e., the hypotenuse goes from ND₉to ND₁₂. This provides much greater process flexibility, since muchhigher doping concentrations can be used.

FIG. 11A shows a conventional structure that includes a P well, typicalfor use at 5V. A P-epi layer 532 is grown on P substrate 500, and a Pwell 534 is implanted and diffused into P-epi layer 532. Active areas540 and 542 are separated by a field oxide layer 536, and a field dopant538 is located under field oxide layer 536. Despite being self-alignedto the field oxide region 536, field implant 538 naturally diffuses intothe active area 540 and 542 and may adversely affect the electricalcharacteristics of devices produced in said regions.

FIG. 11B shows a 5V P well PW5 implanted and diffused into P substrate500 (there is no epi layer) and a 5V P layer PW5B implanted throughfield oxide layer 536. 5V P layer PW5B is submerged in active areas 540and 542 and reaches the bottom of field oxide layer 536 in the inactiveareas. In FIG. 11B, the retrograde portion of the 5V P layer PW5B issubsurface in active regions 540 and 542 but reaches the surface underfield oxide 536. Because P layer PW5B is implanted through field oxidelayer 536, and reaches the surface under field oxide layer 536 (and onlyunder the field oxide layers), the heavily doped portion of the implantis self aligned to the field oxide with virtually no lateral diffusion.

FIGS. 11C and 11D contrast the doping profiles in active area 540 at theactive-area cross-sections 11A-11A′ and 11B-11B′, respectively. Thiscomparison illustrates the dramatic difference in the doping profiles ofa conventional LOCOS field oxide and the high-energy ion-implantedversion. In the as-implanted version of FIG. 11D, P layer PW5B may havea concentration 20% to 200% that of P well PW5 itself and may beimplanted up to 3× the implant energy of the shallow P well PW5 withalmost no variation in the degree of overlap of the P well PW5 and thesubsurface P layer PW5B. In the conventional version of FIG. 11C thereis no buried layer within close proximity to the P well. Therefore,device snapback can be problematic in such structures. Similarly, FIGS.11E and 11F contrast the doping profiles under the field oxide layer 536at the cross-sections 11C-11C′ for conventional methods and 11D-11D′using the method of this invention, respectively.

FIG. 11G is a 12V version of a P well formed using a conventionalprocess similar to that of the 5V version of FIG. 11A. To achievesufficient field thresholds to prevent parasitic surface channels, guardring 550 is formed under field oxide layer 536 prior to field oxidation.Accordingly, guard ring 550 diffuses laterally and must be spaced faraway from active areas 546 and 548 to avoid adversely affecting devicesfabricated in the active P wells. Moreover, P well 544 must be morelightly doped than its 5V counterpart in FIG. 11A. In an attempt toreduce mask count, the same P well is sometimes used for both 5V and 12Vdevices. This compromise of under-doping the 5V P well can lead to manyproblems, especially in causing snapback and punchthrough breakdowneffects in 5V NMOS. In some cases the minimum allowed channel length forN-channel devices must be lengthened to avoid these issues, but only bysacrificing packing density.

FIG. 11H shows a 12V structure in accordance with the invention. A 12V Pwell PW12 is implanted into P substrate 500, followed by the implant ofa P layer PW12B, all subsequent to the formation of field oxide 536.Accordingly the regions of P well PW12 and P layer PW12B follow thecontour of the field oxide topography in an accurate self-alignedmanner. The energy of P layer PW12B must be sufficiently high to allow12V breakdown for devices formed in P well PW12. Accordingly, P layerPW12B penetrates field oxide 536 to a depth deeper than the surface of Psubstrate 500, and therefore approaches (but does not reach) the surfaceof P substrate 500 under field oxide layer 536. To fill the vertical gapbetween P layer PW12B and the underside of field oxide layer 536, thesubstrate is masked and 5V P layer PW5B is implanted through field oxidelayer 536. Since this layer is already being employed in the formationof the 5V P well regions, its use in the 12V device section does notconstitute an added processing step. The concentration of the 5V P layerPW5B is, however, set by the requirements of 12V devices (rather thanthe 5V devices). While this principle may seem somewhatcounterintuitive, the doping of the heavily doped 5V guard ring (and itsuse to set the 12V field threshold) is really an independent variable inthe process since the “exact dose” of the subsurface deep implanted Player PW5B is not critical in preventing NMOS snapback breakdown (itsdepth is more important). FIGS. 11I and 11J contrast the doping profilesin active area 540 at the cross-sections 11E-11E′ of the conventionaldevice type and of the inventive process cross section 11G-11G′,respectively. FIGS. 11K and 11L contrast the doping profiles under thefield oxide layer 536 at the cross-sections 11F-11F′ and 11H-11H′,respectively, again emphasizing the dramatic difference between theconventional and the as-implanted doping profiles of the low thermalbudget process of this invention.

In summary, the integration of 12V CMOS with 5V CMOS using common welldiffusions in a conventional CMOS process is problematic since the idealwell doping profiles to prevent snapback and punchthrough in each devicediffer significantly and ideally require epitaxial depositions ofdiffering thicknesses to locate the buried layers where they are needed.Lastly the introduction of field dopant during the LOCOS sequence toachieve 15V field thresholds in both the N well and P well regions iscomplicated by the fact that implants formed prior to LOCOS fieldoxidation redistribute and diffuse laterally, potentially impacting thebreakdown voltage or performance characteristics of nearby activedevices.

These adverse interaction problems can be avoided by decoupling thevariables using high-energy ion-implantation to form optimizedas-implanted well profiles for each of the four well regions, the 5V Nwell, the 12V N well, the 5V P well, and the 12V P well. In each casethe buried or retrograde portion is used to adjust the snapback of thedevice independently and optimally. As a matter of convenience, it isreasonable and straightforward to use the 5V buried implants to set thefield threshold of the 12V structures without making compromises indevice performance, whereby the buried 5V P layer PW5B is used as aguard ring in the 12V P well and related devices, and where the buried5V N layer NW5B is used as a guard ring in the 12V N well and relateddevices.

In the structures described thus far, the 5V and 12V N well regions canbe used to integrate isolated devices but the P well formations were notisolated from the substrate. We now describe how the optimized P wellregions may also be fabricated in a manner where such P wells may bemade fully isolated from the substrate without the need for epitaxy. Themethod of this invention (i.e. epi-less isolation technology) is thencontrasted to conventional junction isolation methods used today.

FIG. 12A shows that the breakdown in a conventional device between an Nburied layer and a shallow P+ region near the surface is represented bya diode D1, whose breakdown potential is determined by the distanceΔX_(N) between the upper edge of the N buried layer and the lower edgeof the P+ region. The P+ region could represent any P+ region within theN well. The distance ΔX_(N) is in turn determined by the thickness ofthe epi layer and the up-diffusion of the N buried layer, both of whichare highly variable phenomena. Therefore, a large safety margin isrequired to insure that breakdown does not occur. Contrast a device ofthis invention, shown in FIG. 12B. Here the breakdown of diode D2 isdetermined by the distance ΔX_(N), which is a function of the range andscatter of the implant used to form the N layer NWB. These quantitiesare much more controllable and predictable than an epi layer thicknessor the up-diffusion distance.

FIG. 12C shows a graph of the breakdown voltage of diodes D1 and D2 as afunction of the distance ΔX_(N). As indicated, not only is the breakdownvoltage of the diode D2 greater than the breakdown voltage of the diodeD1, but the variability of the breakdown voltage of diode D2 is less.The breakdown voltage of diode D1 is lower because diffusion and dopantredistribution naturally occur during epitaxial growth and throughdiffusion. From dopant redistribution, the net thickness ΔX_(N) willnaturally be reduced from the nominal amount leading to a decline inbreakdown of several volts. Variation in thickness is the major causefor diode D1's wide band in breakdown shown by the labels ±4σ. Typicalvalues of 4σ of thickness for epitaxial depositions are on the order of±20% while for implants the variation is only a few percent. Also, thebreakdown voltage of diode D2 reaches its full breakdown potential in athinner layer (becoming concentration-limited at a lower value ofΔX_(N)) primarily because of the lack of updiffusion. No updiffusionallows the target value for ΔX_(N) to be set at a far lower value indevices according to the invention, limiting the vertical dimensions ofthe device. For example an N well for integrating 5V PMOS requiresaround 0.5 μm using the as-implanted method of this invention, but needsaround 6 μm using epitaxy and conventional diffused junction processing.This phenomena is applicable for both N well and P well regions.

FIGS. 13A and 13B show ways or forming isolated pockets in an epi layer.FIG. 13A shows a conventional junction-isolation process wherein anN-epi layer is grown on a P substrate. An N buried layer is formed atthe junction of the N-epi layer and the P substrate. The N buried layeris used as a sub-collector in bipolar transistors or to help suppressparasitic diodes in MOS circuits. To contact the P substrate P isolationregions are diffused downward from the surface of the N-epi layer in aring shape, forming an isolated pocket 546 of the N-epi layer. Todiffuse the P isolation regions through the N-epi layer requires a longthermal process, however, and this in turn causes the N buried layer todiffuse upward, creating the controllability problems described above.Such a process is known as conventional junction isolation (epi-JI). Theepi-JI process relies on growing N-type epitaxy on a P-type substrate.

In FIG. 13B a P-epi layer is grown on the P substrate and N isolationregions are diffused downward to merge with the N buried layer, formingan isolated pocket 548. This type of junction isolation is sometimesreferred to as wrap-around junction isolation (or epi-WAJI). Note itstill however relies on the growth of epitaxy, in this case P-type epion a P-type substrate. Similar problems occur. Both epi-JI and epi-WAJIstructures (and the methods used to form them) depend heavily on controlof the epitaxial deposition concentration and most of all on the epithickness and thickness uniformity. Both exhibit updiffusion of thesubstrate and buried layers during the epitaxial growth, during theisolation diffusion and during subsequent processing. FIG. 13C is adoping profile taken at cross-section 13A-13A′ in FIG. 13A and FIG. 13Dis a doping profile taken at cross-section 13B-13B′ in FIG. 13B.

FIGS. 13E and 13F illustrate techniques of creating isolated pockets inaccordance with the invention. A deep N layer DN is implanted at a highenergy, typically 1.7 to 2.5 MeV phosphorus, at a dose ranging from 1E12cm⁻² to 5E15 cm⁻² but preferably in the range of 9E13 cm⁻². Deep N layerDN is deeper in the active area 556 than under field oxide layer 552,but it does not touch the surface even under field oxide layer 552. Tocreate a completely isolated pocket a sidewall isolation implant isnecessary. The sidewall implant may be a dedicated chained implantjunction isolation (CIJI) or a stack of as-implanted well regions usedin other devices within the IC. The sidewall, to obtain the highestconcentration should preferably comprise a 5V N layer NW5B, as shown inFIG. 13E, or a combination of a 5V N layer NW5B and a 12V N layer NW12B,as shown in FIG. 13F. The deep N layer DN combined with the sidewallisolation isolates P-type pocket 554 from P-type substrate 500. Thecombined N-type isolation shell-like structure must be biased at apotential equal to or more positive than the substrate potential toavoid causing substrate injection problems. To achieve such a contact,the sidewall isolation requires some portion overlap onto an active(non-field oxide) area so as to allow electrical contact to theisolation structure (not shown).

To minimize costs and maximize flexibility, it is preferable that the 5VN layer NW5B should be designed so that it overlaps the deep N layer DN,thereby eliminating the need for the 12V N layer NW12B to form theisolated pocket 554. If that event, the 12V N layer NW12B does not needto be deposited in processes that do not contain 12V devices. In short,the 12V N layer NW12B can be used when it is available, but it shouldnot be necessary to form the pocket 554. This is an important feature ofmodularity, namely, the ability to eliminate all 12V process steps when12V devices are not part of the structure.

FIG. 13G shows the doping profile of the isolated pocket atcross-section 13C-13C′ in both FIGS. 13E and 13F (which are identical).FIG. 13H shows the doping profile at cross-section 13D-13D′ through thesidewall isolation in FIG. 13D, and FIG. 13I shows the sidewallisolation doping profile at cross-section 13E-13E′ in FIG. 13F. Whilethe NW5B merges with and overlaps onto the DN layer as shown in FIG.13H, the minimum concentration at the overlapping area is much lowerthan if the NW12B implant is added to the sidewall structure as shown inFIG. 13I. Also note that in this concentration profile the shallowportion of NW12 is present in the silicon, but since its concentrationis low compared to the overlapping NW5B dopant, it has no influence onthe electrical performance of the isolation stack.

FIG. 14A shows how a single deep N layer can be used to isolatecomplementary wells. 5V N well NW5 is similar to 5V N well NW5 in FIG.9B, for example, and is surrounded by an 5V N layer NW5B. 5V P well PW5and 5V P layer PW5B are similar but with reversed polarities, and wherethey meet at the surface the breakdown voltage will be adequate for 5Vdevice ratings (typically from 8V to 12V). 5V N layer NW5B and 5V Player PW5B are implanted with energies such that they contact theunderside of field oxide layer 566. Deep N layer DN is the same as deepN layer DN shown in FIGS. 13E and 13F and is implanted with an energysuch that it overlaps 5V N layer NW5B and 5V P layer PW5B. 5V N well NW5is clearly isolated from P substrate 550 since any N well or DN regionforms a reverse biased junction with the surrounding P-type substrate. Aportion of 5V N layer NW5B is allowed to pass through field oxide layer566 on the right side of 5V P well PW5 in a ring or substantiallyannular shape so that 5V P well PW5 is likewise isolated from Psubstrate 500 because it is completely surrounded by N regions on allsides and beneath. 5V N well NW5 and 5V P well PW5 can float upward fromthe potential of P substrate 500, the limit being set by the distanceL_(D) between a 5V P guard ring PW5B and the 5V N layer NW5B on theright side of 5V P well PW5. For example, the complementary wells couldhold 5V devices and float 30V above P substrate 500. With proper fieldshaping the maximum voltage of the floating region above the substratecould be extended to 60V, 200V or even 600V if it were desirable to doso. All of this is accomplished without any isolation diffusion or evena single epitaxial layer.

The structure shown in FIG. 14B is similar to that shown in FIG. 14A,but here the deep N layer DN is restricted to the area under 5V P wellPW5, and 5V P layer PW5B and 5V N layer NW5B are shown as touching. 5V Nwell NW5 is already isolated from P substrate 500. While the structuresof FIGS. 14A and 14B have the same electrically equivalent circuitschematic, the quality of isolation of the deep N layer DN underlyingNW5 is better than if it is not present, making the structure FIG. 14Apreferred over its counterpart.

FIG. 14C shows a plan view of the structure of FIG. 14A, showing thedistance L_(D) forming a drift region between the isolated structure andthe surrounding 5V P guard ring PW5B. The dashed line represents thedeep N layer DN, underlying both the P well and N well regions. The Pwell and the N well regions are shown touching, but could have a gapbetween them without causing any adverse affects. The N well NW5(including its deep implanted portion NW5B) is shown to surround andcircumscribe the P well region PW5 (which includes its subsurfaceportion PW5B). The shape of the entire isolated island can berectangular as shown, but may include rounded corners to achieve higherbreakdown voltages.

FIG. 14D shows a plan view of an alternative embodiment wherein thegrounded 5V P guard ring PW5B touches the isolated structure (the sameas FIG. 14C but with Ld=0), and FIG. 14E shows a plan view of thestructure of FIG. 14B, with the deep N layer DN (dashed line) beinglocated only under (and slightly larger than) the 5V P well PW5.

FIG. 14F shows an N+ contact region 568 that is one means used toelectrically bias the isolation structure (or shell) by contacting aportion of the 5V N well NW5 and the deep N layer DN through an openingin the field oxide layer 566. FIG. 14G illustrates one possible planview of an N+ contact region 568 used to contact the shell-shaped N-typeisolation structure. FIG. 14H shows an N+ contact region 570 that isused to contact a deep N layer DN and sidewall isolation that isolates apocket 572 of P substrate 550. A deep N layer according to thisinvention can be used to isolate a 5V P well, a 5V N well, a 12V P well,a 12V N well, and an isolated pocket of the P substrate 500. The morelightly doped P substrate pocket 572 can be used to integrate highervoltage or lower capacitance devices than those made inside P wellregions PW5 or PW12.

FIG. 14I shows a deep N layer DN that extends around a 5V N well NW5 andtoward the surface of P substrate 500, under the field oxide layer. InFIG. 14J the deep N layer DN is restricted to the area directly belowthe 5V N well NW5. While the N well overlaps onto the field oxide, theentire N well pocket is isolated by the artifact that it is opposite inconductivity type to the P-type substrate that surrounds it. The entireisland can float to a high voltage above the substrate, especially sincethe drift area L_(D2) contains no well doping or field doping, eitherN-type or P-type. This structure and process sequence offer a distinctadvantage over conventional junction isolation in that no additionalmasks are required to remove well or blanket field doping implants fromthis region.

FIG. 14J illustrates a structure similar to that of FIG. 14I except thatthe DN layer has been pulled back within the lateral confines of the Nwell itself. The embodiment of FIG. 14J would tend to have a higherbreakdown voltage because the doping concentration at the surface islower. Another distinction between these embodiments is shown in FIGS.14K and 14L. If the deep N layer DN is allowed to extend laterally asshown in FIG. 14K, the parasitic bipolar transistor between any P+region within the 5V N well and the P substrate is vertical through theheavily doped DN region where the gain will be low, whereas if the deepN layer DN is laterally restricted as shown in FIG. 14L the parasiticbipolar transistor will conduct along the angled patch as illustrated,through less heavily doped material, and would therefore have a highergain.

FIG. 14M shows that a deep N layer DN can be used to isolate a single 5VP well PW5, with sidewalls formed from the 5V N layer NW5B. As shown inFIG. 14N, if the DN layer completely overlaps and extends beyond the Pwell region and if a ring shaped sidewall isolation comprising (atleast) 5V N layer NW5B is made wide enough, the parasitic bipolartransistor between 5V P well PW5 and P substrate 500 will be limited tovertical conduction through a heavily doped DN layer and the parasiticgain will be low, whereas if the 5V N layer NW5B is narrow the parasiticbipolar transistor conduction may include a more substantial horizontalcomponent (having a higher gain than the more heavily doped verticalpath), as shown in FIG. 14O. As shown in FIG. 14P, if the 5V N layerNW5B sidewall is omitted altogether, 5V P well PW5 is not isolated, andthere is a resistive connection or dead short between 5V P well PW5 andP substrate 500.

In the invention described, the isolation of N well regions by the deepDN layer is optional and serves to suppress parasitic bipolartransistors, while for the isolation of P well regions (whether 12V or5V), the entire P well must be encased in the N-type shell of isolationcomprising DN beneath the P well and a sidewall isolation ringcircumscribing the P well (comprising either a CIJI structure, or one ormore N well regions like the NW5 region or a stack of NW5 and NW12regions), or otherwise the P well will not be isolated from thesurrounding substrate. These requirements will be further clarified by anumber of unique isolation structures formed using the epi-lessisolation method of the invention, all without the need for diffusion.

FIG. 15A shows two 12V P wells PW12 and a 12V N well NW12, all isolatedby a single deep N layer DN. The 12V P wells PW12 are separated by a 5VP layer PW5B, and the 12V N well NW12 is separated from the 12V N welladjacent to it (not shown) by a 5V N layer NW5B. The 12V P well PW12 andthe 12V N well NW12 abut as shown. The wells would not all have to be12V wells; some 5V wells could be included.

FIG. 15B shows a single 12V P well PW12 isolated by a deep N layer DN,with isolation sidewalls formed of 5V N layers NW5B, separated by adistance L_(D1) from a surrounding guard ring P layer PW5B. FIG. 15Cshows a similar structure except that the isolation sidewalls include a12V N layer NW12B. Both structures are similar to the 5V isolated P wellof FIG. 14M except that the buried portion of P well PW12, namely PW12B,does not reach the silicon surface beneath the field oxide regions.

FIG. 15D shows a deep N layer DN that extends to the side of a 12V Nwell NW12. Alternatively deep N layer DN could be pulled back to theregion directly below the opening in the field oxide layer. Thebreakdown voltage is set by the distance L_(D) between the isolationstructure and a 5V P layer PW5B guard ring. The structures shown issimilar to the 5V isolated N well of FIGS. 14I and 14J except that inFIG. 15D the buried portion of N well NW12, namely NW12B, does not reachthe silicon surface beneath the field oxide regions whereas in FIGS. 14Iand 14J the 5V buried N well NW5B does reach the silicon surface.

FIG. 15E shows that the adjacent 12V N well NW12 and 12V P well PW12 cantouch and still meet the breakdown condition at the surface. While themore heavily doped buried portion of each well, namely NW12B and PW12Bwill also touch in such a structure, the critical electric field of ajunction in the bulk silicon is higher than along a surface or interfaceand therefore the required voltage can be achieved. Alternatively, asshown in FIG. 15F, a 5V N layer NW5B and a 5V P layer PW5B can beintroduced between 12V N well NW12 and 12V P well PW12, but in that case5V N layer NW5B and 5V P layer PW5B must be held back from each other orotherwise the breakdown condition (above 8V) would not be met. Ofcourse, it is also possible to allow a space between the P well PW12 andN well NW12 so long as the DN layer continues under both wells and underthe intervening gap.

FIG. 16A shows that two isolated 5V N wells NW5, each associated with acomplementary 5V P well, can be based at different voltages +V₁ and +V₂and can be operated independently of one another, even though they areformed in the same substrate. The isolation regions are biased throughtheir connection with the N well NW5 to the labeled supply rails andstated potentials. The P well PW5 contained within the isolationstructure biased to +V₁ can be biased to any voltage equal to or morenegative than the isolation potential +V₁. The most negative potentialat which P well PW5 can be biased is its maximum rated voltage, relativeto +V₁. If the isolation region and +V₁ are biased at 5V, then P wellPW5 can be biased and operated continuously at any potential from +5Vdown to 0V (ground), i.e. over the full range of the supply voltage. Butif the isolation region and +V₁ are biased at 12V, then P well PW5 canbe biased and operated continuously at any potential from +12V down toonly 7V (i.e. 12V minus 5V max. operation) because a 5V well wasemployed. If a 12V P well were used, however, then P well PW12 could beoperated at any potential from 12V down to 0V (ground).

The same set of rules applies to the isolation island and wells biasedto potential +V₂. Since the devices are fully isolated, they can operatecompletely independently of one another. Furthermore the isolated P wellregions can in some cases operate below ground, i.e. below the substratepotential, if necessary. FIG. 16B is a plan view of the structure ofFIG. 16A and FIG. 16C is a schematic representative of the structure andlayout.

FIG. 16D is similar to FIG. 16A, except that one complementary set ofwells is a 5V pair and the other set of complementary wells is a 12Vpair. The 5V N well NW5 is biased at +V₁ (for example at 5V), and the12V N well NW12 is biased at +V₂ (for example at 12V). The 5V wellstouch each other whereas there is a 5V N layer NW5B and a 5V P layerPW5B separating the 12V wells. FIG. 16E is a schematic representation ofthe structure of FIG. 16D, and FIG. 16F is a plan view of one possiblelayout of the structure of FIG. 16D.

In addition to limiting the thermal diffusion cycles and the totalnumber of masking steps, to improve the device characteristics andobtain high voltages it is highly desirable to control the dopingprofiles of the individual regions, especially those comprising elementsof active devices. Formation of such structures should be performed in alow or zero thermal budget process consistent with the other elements ofthe invention, otherwise the benefit of the as-implantedlow-thermal-budget epi-less isolation structures and processes will benullified.

FIG. 17A summarizes the conventional process of forming doped regions ina semiconductor material, which typically includes a masking step, arelatively shallow implant of dopant through openings in the mask, and ahigh temperature diffusion to diffuse or “drive in” the implanteddopant. Of course, there are normally steps preceding and following theintroduction of dopant but they are not of primary primarily concern inthis discussion (except that added diffusion affects, i.e.redistributes, dopants already present in the silicon at the time of thediffusion). In conventional CMOS and bipolar processes, shallow dopantlayers are typically introduced by means of a single medium energy ionimplantation, typically ranging from 60 keV to 130 keV. The implant istypically performed through a photoresist mask having a thickness ofapproximately 1 μm. Immediately post-implant, the dopant layer is, atmost, only a few tenths of a micron in depth. The drive in diffusion isthen performed using a high temperature process, ranging from 900° C. to1150° C. over a period of 30 minutes to as much as 15 or 20 hours, butwith 2 to 3 hours being common. Diffusion is often performed in nitrogenambient, but oftentimes oxidation is performed during a portion of thediffusion cycle, leading to additional doping segregation effects andadding more variability in concentration and diffusion depth to theprocess. Final junction depths may range from 1 μm to 10 μm, with 1.5 μmto 3 μm junctions being common, except for the isolation and sinkerdiffusions discussed previously.

FIG. 17B summarizes a process according to this invention which allowsone to accurately control the doping profiles of the implanted regions.Following the preliminary steps a relatively thick mask is deposited andpatterned on the substrate or epi layer. The mask should be relativelythick (e.g., 3 to 5 μm) to block implants that are performed atrelatively high energies, typically from 200 keV up to 3 MeV. Therefollows a series of “chained” implants, which can take many forms,shallow, deep, high dose or low dose. This allows the creation of adoped region having virtually any desired doping profile. The remainingsteps might include a short anneal to activate the dopant and repaircrystal damage, but there are no significant thermal cycles that wouldcause the dopants to be redistributed. For example, the short annealcould be at a temperature of 900° C. or less for 15 minutes or less.Alternatively, a “rapid thermal anneal” (RTA) might be performed lastingonly 20 or 30 seconds at temperatures as high as 1150° C., but ofsufficiently short duration that no significant diffusion occurs.Chained implants (like the ones described previously for creating theaforementioned CIJI isolation structure and the various as-implantedwell structures) may be used to form the critical regions of activedevices like the base of a bipolar transistor, the body of a DMOS, orthe drift region of a drain extension, RESURF layer or high voltageJFET. By sequentially implanting a number of implants of differingenergies preferably through a common mask, an entire multi-hourdiffusion can be replaced by a several second implant, and with farbetter dopant profile control.

As background, FIG. 17C shows the shape of a typical Gaussian profilethat is produced by the conventional implant and diffusion process. Thevertical axis represents the doping concentration (N); the horizontalaxis represents the depth below the surface of the semiconductormaterial (X). The dopant is implanted to a shallow level and diffuseddownward. The profile decreases with increasing depth according to aGaussian function following the well-known mathematical relationexp[−x²/(2(Dt)^(1/2))] where the diffusivity D of the diffusant has anexponential dependence on temperature T. The rate of the diffusion isdriven by a concentration gradient. The longer a diffusion progresses,the slower it goes.

FIG. 17D shows a similar graph of a “chained” implant, which in thiscase is a series of five implants. The energy of each implant is set sothat it has a projected range at a predetermined depth, and the fiveimplants overlap to form the overall doping profile indicated by thecurve at the top. While opposite conductivity type dopant species, e.g.boron and phosphorus, could be used to produce even more complexstructures and dopant profiles, most devices benefit from concentrationprofiling using a single type of implant species.

FIG. 17E shows a detailed view of a chained implant that includes twoimplants. The peak doping concentration of the shallower implant (N₁) isat the surface, and the peak doping concentration of the deeper implant(N₂) is below the surface. As indicated, N₂ is well above the Gaussianprofile (dashed line) that would prevail with the shallow implant alone(so the dashed portion indicates the non-Gaussian aspect of the well).FIG. 17F shows the same chained implant, but in this instance the dopantis implanted through an oxide layer. Here the shallower dopant islocated entirely within the oxide layer; the semiconductor material seesonly the deeper dopant, with its peak concentration N₂ being locatedcloser to the surface of the semiconductor than in FIG. 17E. Thus, byimplanting the same “chain” of implants through an uncoveredsemiconductor material and through an oxide (or other) layer on thesurface, radically different results can be obtained. Note that in FIG.17F the implant is performed through the oxide; the oxide is not formedafter the implant.

FIGS. 17G and 17H show similar views of a different chained implant.Here the shallower implant has a peak concentration (N₃) than isslightly below the surface of the semiconductor material and the deeperimplant has a peak concentration (N₄) than is greater than N₃. FIG. 17Gshows the chained implant through the surface of the semiconductor; FIG.17H shows the implant through an oxide layer.

FIGS. 17I and 17J show the results of combining the four implants ofFIGS. 17E-17H. In the uncovered semiconductor (FIG. 17I) the totaldoping profile is dominated by the peak concentrations N₁, N₂ and N₄.The peak concentration N₃ is much lower than N₁ and N₂ and disappears.N₂ and N₄ provide a very heavily doped submerged layer. When theimplants are made through an oxide layer (FIG. 17J), the peaks N₁ and N₃are both “lost”, since they end up in the oxide layer.

FIGS. 17K and 17L illustrate a physical phenomenon that is inherent inthe doping process. Two implants having the same total dose Q₁ (inatoms/cm⁻²) are shown. The projected range of R_(P1) of the implantshown in FIG. 17K is greater than the projected range R_(P2) of theimplant shown in FIG. 17L. As indicated, even though the total dose Q₁is exactly the same, the peak concentration N₅ of the implant in FIG.17K is greater than the peak concentration N₆ of the implant shown inFIG. 17L. This illustrates the general principle that an implant of agiven dose spreads out more as it is implanted deeper into thesemiconductor and therefore has a lower peak doping concentration.

FIG. 17M illustrates this further by showing what would happen if theimplants of FIGS. 17K and 17L were implanted into the same substrate,and FIG. 17N illustrates the same principle with a series of fiveimplants, each having the same dose. As indicated, the peakconcentrations N₇, N₈, N₉, N₁₀ and N₁₁ get progressively lower and thewidths (straggles) of the implants get wider as the dopants areimplanted deeper into the semiconductor.

This effect can be counteracted, as shown in FIG. 17O, by giving thedeeper implant a dose Q4 that is greater than the dose Q3 of theshallower implant. As a result the straggle of the deeper implant ΔX₄ isgreater than the straggle ΔX₃ of the shallower implant. FIG. 17Pillustrates the same principle with four implants having progressivelyhigher doses Q5, Q6. Q7 and Q8, which yield almost a “flat” profile witha doping concentration of N₁₃. If it were desired to have the dopingconcentration slope upward with increasing depth, Q6, Q7 and Q8 wouldhave to be made progressively even higher.

As indicated above, the photoresist mask that is typically used todefine the location of these chained implants is typically relativelythick, e.g., 3 μm to 5 μm thick. This makes it more difficult to achieveextremely small feature sizes using a small mask opening. Moreover,higher energy implants exhibit more lateral straggle from the implantedions ricocheting off of atoms in the crystal and spreading laterally. Soin fact, deeper implants spread more laterally than shallowerlower-energy implants. That means unlike a Gaussian diffusion that ismuch wider at the top than at the bottom a chained implant stack is muchmore vertical in shape and is actually widest at the bottom, not thetop. FIG. 17Q shows a series of four implants through a window 700 inthick photoresist layer 702 and an oxide layer 704. Window 700constrains the implants laterally, but window 700 cannot be madearbitrary small as the thickness of photoresist layer 702 is increased.In addition, the implanted dopant spreads laterally somewhat after itenters the substrate, especially at the higher energies and deeperdepths.

A technique for constraining the implants to their smallest possiblelateral extent is to form trenches in the semiconductor, as shown inFIG. 17R. Trenches 706 can be filled with oxide or some othernonconductive material or with doped polysilicon. The implants overlapinto the trenches 706, but have no effect there because the materialfilling the trenches 706 is nonconductive (or in the case ofpolysilicon, already heavily doped). The spacing W1 between trenches 706can generally be made smaller than the width W2 of the opening 700 inthe thick photoresist layer 702.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 17S the dopant can be implanted at energiesthat propel it below the bottoms of trenches 706, producing a dopedregion 708 that has an inverted “mushroom” shape, as shown in FIG. 17T,and a top edge that is below the surface of the semiconductor.

The chained implant described can comprise a chained implant junctionisolation (CIJI) region that may be implanted into and through anepitaxial layer or used to overlap onto a deeply implanted buriedimplant of like conductivity type. For example in FIG. 17U, an epitaxiallayer 711 opposite in conductivity type to that of a substrate isisolated by a chain of implants 713 a to 713 f of the same conductivitytype as the substrate (e.g. a boron chained isolation implant implantedinto a P-substrate) implanted through a photolithographically-definedphotoresist layer 712. The resulting isolation structure shown in FIG.17V illustrates the resulting structure of CIJI structure 715 isolatingepi layer 711.

In FIG. 17W, a similar CIJI isolation structure is constrained duringimplant not only by photoresist 712, but also by trenches 720 a and 720b, filled with a dielectric material such as oxide, oxy-nitride, or bypolysilicon. The resulting isolation structure is shown in FIG. 17X. Thedepth of trenches 720 a and 720 b may range from 0.7 um to the depth ofthe epi layer itself, but preferably should extend roughly half tothree-quarters the distance from the surface to the bottom of the epilayer 711 as a compromise between constraining the implant andfacilitating the trench refill process.

In FIG. 17Y, a CIJI sidewall isolation, comprising implants 733 a to 733d, into a P-substrate 730 a, overlaps a deep implanted floor isolationregion DN 732 in an annular or ring pattern to form an isolated pocket730 b that is separated from the substrate 730 a. The resultingisolation structure including CIJI structure 740 is shown in FIG. 17Z.

In a structure similar to that of FIG. 17Y, the CIJI sidewall isolationstructure of FIG. 17AA illustrates the use of dielectric filled trenches750 a and 750 b to constrain the lateral straggle of successive implants733 a to 733 e. The deepest implants (for example deep implant 733 a)overlap a deep isolation region DN 732 to isolate pocket 730 b from Psubstrate 730 a. The resulting structure with CIJI sidewall isolation751 is illustrated in FIG. 17BB. The depth of trenches 750 a and 750 bmay range from 0.7 um to the depth of the DN layer itself, butpreferably should extend roughly half to three-quarters the distancefrom the surface to the deep DN layer 732 as a compromise betweenconstraining the implant and facilitating the trench refill process.

The methods for forming isolation structures that eliminate the need forepitaxy (or that minimize the impact of epi variability) have beendetailed in a variety of processes and methods herein. The integrationof devices into an integrated circuit using combinations of such methodsis included here as illustrative examples of zero thermal budgetisolation and device formation techniques, but should not be construedas limiting the use of such methods to the specific devices detailed andexemplified herein.

FIGS. 18A-1 to 18A-4, 18B-1 to 18B-4 and 18C-18H show a family ofdevices that can be fabricated by a process according to this invention.The process is performed on a single semiconductor chip, represented bya substrate 350, which is generally doped with a P-type impurity such asboron. The devices, and some of the regions within the devices, areseparated laterally by a field oxide layer 352, which is grown at thesurface of substrate 350 by a conventional local oxidation of silicon(LOCOS) process.

Starting with FIG. 18A-1, the family of devices includes a 5Vcomplementary MOSFET pair (CMOS) comprising a P-channel MOSFET (PMOS)301 and an N-channel MOSFET (NMOS) 302.

PMOS 301 is formed in an N well 354A that serves as the body of PMOS301. N well 354A includes shallow regions 356 that are formed byimplanting dopant through field oxide layer 352, as described below. Agate 358A is formed above substrate 350, typically made ofpolycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) that may be capped with a metallayer. Gate 358A is bordered by sidewall spacers 360 and is separatedfrom N well 354A by a gate oxide layer (not shown). The thickness of thegate oxide layer may range from 100 A to 2000 A but typically is in therange of 200 A to 600 A. Lightly-doped P drift regions 362A and 362B areformed in N well 354A on the sides of gate 358A. PMOS 301 also includesa P+ source region 364A and a P+ drain region 364B. (Throughout FIGS.18A-1 to 18A-4, 18B-1 to 18B-4, and 18C-18H dopant regions designated bythe same reference numeral but different letter are formed during thesame implant step.)

A borophosphosilicate glass (BSPG) layer 366 or other dielectricoverlies substrate 350, and contact openings are formed in BSPG layer366. A metal layer 370 contacts the source and drain of PMOS through thecontact openings.

NMOS 302 is formed in a P well 372A that serves as the body of NMOS 302.P well 372A includes shallow regions 374 that are formed by implantingdopant through field oxide layer 352, as described below. A gate 358B,similar to gate 358A, is formed above substrate 350. Gate 358B isbordered by sidewall spacers 360 and is separated from P well 372A by agate oxide layer (not shown). Lightly-doped N regions 376A and 376B areformed in P well 372A on the sides of gate 358B. NMOS 302 also includesan N+ source region 378A and an N+ drain region 378B. Metal layer 370contacts the source and drain of NMOS 302 through contact openings inBPSG layer 366.

Referring to FIG. 18A-2, substrate 350 also contains a 12V PMOS 303 anda 12V NMOS 304. 12 V PMOS 303 is formed in an N well 380A, which isimplanted with dopant at a higher energy than N well 354A in PMOS 301. Agate 358C is formed from the same polysilicon layer as gates 358A, 358B,but the gate oxide layer that separates gate 358C from the substrate istypically thicker than the gate oxide layers beneath gates 358A, 358B. Aminimum gate oxide thickness to sustain continuous operation at 12Vshould preferably meet or exceed 300 A. The source is formed by a P+region 364C and the drain is formed by a P+ region 364D. The drain isoffset from the edge of gate 358C by a distance that is not determinedby a sidewall spacer on gate 358C. Instead, as described below, P+ drain364D is formed in a separate masking step. A lightly-doped P region 363Bextends between the drain region 364D and the gate 358C and likewisebetween the drain and field oxide 352. On the other hand, the P+ source364C of 12V PMOS 303 is aligned with a sidewall spacer 360 on gate 358C.Thus 12V PMOS 303 is not a symmetrical device. The drain 364D is offsetby a considerable margin (e.g., 0.3-1.0 μm) from the edge of gate 358C,whereas the source 364C is offset by only a small margin (e.g., 0.15μm).

N well 380A includes shallow regions 384, where the dopant implanted toform N well 380A passes through field oxide layer 352. However, thedoping concentration of shallow regions 384 is typically not sufficientto prevent surface inversion and parasitic MOSFETs between 12V PMOS 303and adjacent devices. Therefore, the implant that is used to form N well354A in 5V PMOS 301 is introduced into shallow regions 384, forming Nregions 354B and increasing the total doping concentration in shallowregions 384.

12V NMOS 304 is formed in a P well 386A, which is implanted with dopantat a higher energy than P well 372A in NMOS 302. A gate 358D, similar togate 358C, is formed from the same polysilicon layer as gates 358A,358B, 358C. N+ source region 378D is offset from the edge of gate 358Dby a distance that is determined by the sidewall spacers 360 on gate358D, whereas N+ drain region 378C is offset from the edge of gate 358Dby a distance that is independent of sidewall spacers 360. Alightly-doped N region 377A extends between the drain and the gate andbetween the drain and the field oxide region 352.

P well 386A includes shallow regions 388, where the dopant implanted toform P well 386A passes through field oxide layer 352. The implant thatis used to form P well 372A in 5V NMOS 302 is introduced into shallowregions 388, forming P regions 372B and increasing the total dopingconcentration in shallow regions 388. This prevents surface inversionand parasitic MOSFETs between 12V NMOS 304 and adjacent devices.

Referring to FIG. 18A-3, a 5V NPN bipolar transistor (NPN) 305 includesa double P well 372C as a base. Double P well 372C is formed during thesame implant as P well 372A in NMOS 302. The use of a double P wellallows the base to be contacted at a remote location through a P+ region364E. Double P well 372C is relatively shallow (e.g., 0.5-1.0 μm deep),which is typical of junction depths used for bipolar transistors inprior art processes. An N+ region 378E acts as an emitter, which can bemade very small, reducing the sidewall capacitance of the emitter tobase. The collector of 5V NPN 305 includes an N well 354C, which mergeswith a deep N (DN) layer 390A.

Together, N well 354C and DN layer 390A form a wraparound N regionaround an isolated pocket 392A, which is isolated from the remainder ofsubstrate 350. The N well surrounds the entire device to complete theisolation. However, the electrical characteristics of NPN 305 areprimarily set by the doping concentration in double P well 372C, not thedoping concentration of isolated pocket 392A since the P well doping ishigher. The double P well, i.e. two side-by-side P well regionscomprising the base and the base contact area are required toaccommodate field oxide 352 interposed between emitter 378E and basecontact region 364E without inadvertently “disconnecting” the P+ basecontact 364E from the active intrinsic-base portion of the device,namely P well 372C located beneath N+ emitter 378E. Thus high speedoperation and good emitter-to-base breakdown and leakage characteristicscan be achieved.

Referring to FIGS. 18A-3 and 18A-4, a 5V PNP bipolar transistor (PNP)306 has a wraparound “floor isolation” and sidewall isolation regionthat includes a 5V N well 354E and a deep N layer 390B. N well 354E iscontacted through an N+ region 378H and can be biased at the collectorvoltage or at the most positive voltage on the chip, in which case thecollector-to-“floor” junction would be either zero-biased orreverse-biased. The emitter of PNP 306 is a P+ region 364G. Thecollector includes a 12V P well 386B, which actually consists of threewells that merge together, and a 5V P well 372D, which is used as anadditional collector sinker to reduce the resistance. The base includesa dedicated N base region 394 and is contacted through a 5V N well 354Dand an N+ contact region 378G. Alternatively, the section of field oxidelayer 352 between the emitter and base can be removed, in which case theN implant 394 will extend under the base contact and the emittercapacitance will increase.

Referring to FIG. 18A-4, a 30V channel stop 307 includes a non-contactedP+ region 364H, which sits over a 12V P well 386C and a 5V P well 372E.This not only prevents surface inversion, but if any minority carriersattempt to flow laterally, they can be collected.

30V lateral trench double-implanted MOSFET (DMOS) 308 includes a trenchwhich is filled with a polysilicon gate 396A and lined with a gate oxidelayer 398A. Lateral trench DMOS 308 also includes a drain consisting ofa 5V N well 354F, an N+ contact region 378I and a dedicatedlightly-doped N drift region, which includes a shallower drift portion391A under field oxide layer 352 and a deeper drift portion 393A and maybe produced using chained implant techniques described previously. A Pbody region 395A, which is a dedicated boron implant or a chainedimplant, is contacted through a P+ body contact region 364I. The sourceis represented by N+ regions 378J which are adjacent the trench. Thecurrent flows from N+ source regions 378J downward through a channelwithin P body region 395A and then turns and flows laterally towards 5VN well 354F and N+ contact region 378I. Gate 396A acts as a lateralcurrent-spreader to spread the current in the high-voltage N driftregion and thereby reduce the current density and resistance within thatarea.

As described below, polysilicon gate 396A is formed in two stages, witha first layer being deposited within the trench and a secondlayer-overlapping the top surface of the trench. These layers areseparate from the layer that is used to form the gates in the lateralMOSFETs 301 through 304.

To summarize, FIGS. 18A-1 to 18A-4 show a group of devices that includefully optimized 5V and 12V CMOS pairs (301, 302 and 303, 304),complementary bipolar transistors (305, 306) and a 30V lateral trenchDMOS (308), all formed in a single chip, with no epitaxial layer and ina single process with no long diffusions. The bipolar transistors (305,306) are fully isolated from the substrate 350, but it should beunderstood that the CMOS pairs (301, 302 and 303, 304) can similarly beisolated by adding the deep N layer 390 under them.

FIGS. 18B-1 to 18B-4 show a second group of devices that can be formedin the same process, including a 12V symmetrical isolated CMOS pair 309,310, a poly-to-poly capacitor 311, an NPN 312, a 12V channel stop 313and a 12V lateral trench DMOS 314.

Referring to FIGS. 18B-1 and 18B-2, a 12V symmetrical isolated CMOS pair309, 310 is isolated from substrate 350 by a deep N layer 390C whichmerges with a 12V N well 380C. Within N well 380C is a 5V N well 354H,contacted by N+ and metal (not shown). PMOS 309 is isolated fromsubstrate 350 so long as the potential of N well 380C is higher than thepotential of substrate 350. NMOS 310 is isolated from substrate 350because it is surrounded by N-type material.

PMOS 309 and NMOS 310 are generally similar to PMOS 303 and NMOS 304,except that they are symmetrical. The source region 364J and the drainregion 364K in PMOS 309 are laterally offset from the gate 358E by anequal distance; the source region 378K and the drain region 378L in NMOS310 are also laterally offset from the gate 358F by an equal distance.Similarly, the extended drift regions 363C and 363D are symmetricalabout the gate 358E in PMOS 309, and the extended drift regions 377C and377D are symmetrical about the gate 358F in NMOS 310. The symmetricdrift design allows either source or drain to achieve a 12V (15Vmaximum) reverse bias relative to the enclosing well.

N well 380B includes shallow regions 397, where the dopant implanted toform N well 380B passes through field oxide layer 352. However, thedoping concentration of shallow regions 397 is typically not sufficientto prevent surface inversion and parasitic MOSFETs between 12V PMOS 309and adjacent devices. Therefore, the implant that is used to form N well354A in 5V PMOS 301 is introduced into shallow regions 397, forming Nregions 354G and increasing the total doping concentration in shallowregions 397.

12V P well 386D includes shallow regions 399, where the dopant implantedto form P well 386D passes through field oxide layer 352. The implantthat is used to form P well 372A in 5V NMOS 302 is introduced intoshallow regions 399, forming P regions 372F and increasing the totaldoping concentration in shallow regions 399. This prevents surfaceinversion and parasitic MOSFETs between 12V NMOS 310 and adjacentdevices.

Poly-to-poly capacitor 311 includes two polysilicon layers, 389 and358G, separated by an insulating layer 387. Polysilicon layer 358G isformed at the same time as the polysilicon layer that forms the gates ofthe lateral devices described above (i.e., gates 358A, 358B, etc.).Polysilicon layer 389 is formed at the same time as the polysiliconlayer that overflows the trench of the trench devices discussed below.

Referring to FIG. 18B-3, an NPN 312 has a base which includes a P baseregion 395B (which is formed with a specific mask), an isolated region392B of substrate 350, and a P+ base contact region 364L. The emitter ofNPN 312 is an N region 378L. The collector is an N isolation region354K, which merges with a deep N layer 390D. Unlike NPN 305 in FIG.18A-3, which has a section of field oxide layer 352 between the base andthe emitter, and P well 372C underlying the field oxide layer 352, inNPN 312 the entire area is active. As a result, the base-to-emittercapacitance of NPN 312 is greater than the base-to-emitter capacitanceof NPN 305.

The base width of NPN 312 is equal to the entire distance from thesurface of substrate 350 down to the top surface of deep N layer 390D,but the gain characteristics are primarily determined by the thicknessof P base region 395B, since the isolated region 392B immediatelybecomes depleted in normal operation. The width of the base adds sometransit time, which limits the maximum frequency of NPN 312, but themaximum frequency would still be in the range of several GHz. The depthof isolated region 392B could be on the order of 0.7 to 1.5 μm.

Referring to FIG. 18B-4, a 12V channel stop 313 includes a 5V P well372G and a 12V P well 386E, which are contacted via a P+ region 364M. P+region 364M extends on opposite sides of a trench gate 396B, which isoptional. The function of 12V channel stop 313 is to prevent the surfaceof substrate 350 from being inverted by any overlying metal lines biasedat high voltages.

12V lateral trench DMOS 314 is essentially a smaller version of 30Vlateral trench DMOS 308 in FIG. 18A-4. 12V DMOS 314 includes a trenchwhich is filled with a polysilicon gate 396C and lined with a gate oxidelayer 398C. Lateral trench DMOS 314 also includes a drain consisting ofa 5V N well 354L, an N+ contact region 378N and a dedicatedlightly-doped N drift region, which includes a shallower portion 391Bunder field oxide layer 352 and a deeper drift portion 393B. A P bodyregion 395C, which is a dedicated implant, is contacted through a P+body contact region 364N. The source is represented by N+ regions 378Pwhich are adjacent the trench. The current flows from N+ source regions378P downward through a channel within P body region 395C and then turnsand flows laterally towards 5V N well 354L and N+ contact region 378N.Gate 396C acts as a lateral current-spreader to spread the current inthe high-voltage N drift region and thereby reduce the current densityand resistance within that area.

Like trench gates 396A and 396B, polysilicon gate 396C is preferablyformed in two stages with a first layer being deposited within thetrench and a second layer overlapping the top surface of the trench.These layers are separate from the layer that is used to form the gatesin the lateral MOSFETs 301 through 304.

Referring to FIG. 18C, the device family includes a fully isolated 5VCMOS pair consisting of a 5V NMOS 315 and a 5V PMOS 316. NMOS 315includes an N+ source region 378R and an N+ drain region 378S formed ina 5V P well 372H, which also includes a P+ body contact region 364P(shown as a butting contact to N+ region 378R). A gate 358H overlies achannel in P well 372H. NMOS 315 is isolated from substrate 350 by anunderlying deep N layer 390E, which merges with an N-type sidewallisolation region 354N and an N+ contact region 378Q. In such device thewrap-around isolation may be biased to a different potential than theNMOS source and body, which still may be shorted locally by the buttingcontact. As described above, the NMOS may have a sidewall spacer with anunderlying LDD (similar to an isolated version of NMOS 302 in FIG.18A-1) or in simpler versions of the process, the sidewall spacer andshallow LDD implant may be omitted.

PMOS 316 includes a P+ drain region 364Q and a P+ source region 364Rformed in a 5V N well 354P, which also includes an N+ body contactregion 378T. A gate 358I overlies a channel in N well 354P. PMOS 316 isisolated from the substrate 350 as an artifact of its construction in anN well 354P, but may be further isolated from substrate 350 by extendingdeep N layer DN 390E under the N well to reduce any parasitic bipolargain to the substrate. Electrical contact to substrate 350 is made via aP+ contact region 364S and a 5V P well 372I. As described above, thePMOS may have a sidewall spacer with an underlying LDD (similar to anisolated version of PMOS 301 in FIG. 18A-1) or in simpler versions ofthe process, the sidewall spacer and shallow LDD implant may be omitted.A butting contact between the P+ source 364R and the N+ body contact378T illustrates a fully isolated PMOS can still employ local source tobody shorts.

In device 317, shown in FIG. 18D, the mesas between the trench gates396D alternate between one mesa that contains an N+ source region 378V,a P body 395D, and a high voltage N drift region 393C, and an alternatemesa that contains an N+ drain region 378U and a 5V N well 354Q(superimposed on a high voltage N drift region 393C). Beneath the trenchgates is a 12V N well 380D and an optional deep N layer 390F. P body395D contains a channel that is controlled by the gate 396D. Electricalcontact is made to substrate 350 through a P+ region 364T. When device317 is turned on by applying the proper potential on trench gate 396D,the electric field across gate oxide 398D inverts the PB region 395D sothat current flows from N+ source region 378V, through the invertedchannel in P body 395D, and down high voltage N drift region 393C in onemesa; then around the bottom of the trench gate 396D via 12V N well380D; and up through 5V N well 354Q and N+ drain region 378U in theadjacent mesa. The contact to P-type body region PB395D is preferablymade (in the third dimension not shown) along the length of stripefingers and is typically shorted to the source region 378V via metal370.

Device 318, shown in FIG. 18E, is identical to device 317 except thatthe 12V N well 380D is discontinued under the mesas that contain N+source region 378V and P body 395D, and instead a 12V N well 380Eunderlies the mesas that contain the drain region 378U and the trenchgate 396D that is adjacent to those mesas. This provides a slightlyhigher breakdown voltage or a less effective reverse-bias between N+source 378V and P body 395D on the short-channel characteristics of thedevice.

Device 319, shown in FIG. 18F, is yet another version of device 317. Indevice 319, instead of an alternating mesa pattern, all of the mesasexcept one contain an N+ source region 378V, a P body 395D, and a highvoltage N drift region 393C. Only one mesa contains an N+ drain region378U and a 5V N well 354Q. Of course, FIG. 18F, shows only one portionof the device 319. Typically there would be a ratio between the numberof mesas that contain a source-body and the number of mesas that containa drain. There would be a number of “source-body” mesas, and thenperiodically there would be a “drain” mesa. The heavier 12V N well 380Dis doped, the higher the ratio of “source-body” mesas to “drain” mesascan be.

In device 319, current flows down the mesas that contain an N+ sourceregion 378V, laterally through 12V N well 380D, and up the mesa thatcontains an N+ drain region 378U. In this respect, device 319 is a true“quasi-vertical” device, albeit one formed entirely without diffusion orepitaxy.

FIG. 18G shows a lateral N-channel DMOS 320 that includes a gate 358Jthat steps up over field oxide region 352. DMOS 320 includes an N+source region 378W, an N+ drain region 378X, and a P body 395E that iscontacted via a P+ body contact region 364U. Current flows from N+source region 378W through a channel in P body 395E (located under agate oxide beneath the active portion of polysilicon gate 358J) andthrough a high-voltage drift region 391C into a 5V N well 354R (whichincludes a high-voltage drift region 393D and N+ drain region 378X).

FIG. 18H shows a lateral P-channel DMOS 400 that includes a gate 358K,an P+ source region 364W, an P+ drain region 364V, and an N well (actingas a DMOS body) 354S that is contacted via a N+ body contact region378X. Current flows from P+ source region 364W through a channel in Nwell 354S (located under a gate oxide beneath the polysilicon gate 358K)and through a high-voltage drift region 401 (which is simply theisolated portion of P substrate 350) and (optionally into a 5V P well)to P+ drain region 364V.

To summarize, the entire family of devices described above can befabricated on a single substrate 350 using a series of 11 basicimplants, identified as follows in FIGS. 18A-1 to 18A-4, 18B-1 to 18B-4and 18C-18H and in Table 1 (without the letter suffixes).

TABLE 1 Implant Description 354 5 V N well 372 5 V P well 380 12 V Nwell 386 12 V P well 364 P+ (shallow) 362 P-LDD 378 N+ (shallow) 376N-LDD 390 Deep N layer 391 High Voltage N-drift (shallow) 393 HighVoltage N-drift (deep) 394 N-base 404 P body 446, 450 Threshold adjust

Since the substrate is exposed to practically no thermal cycle, there ispractically no diffusion or redistribution of the implants after theyare introduced into the substrate. Therefore the implants listed inTable 1 can be performed in any order. It will be understood, moreover,that the 5V and 12V devices are merely illustrative. Devices havingvoltage rating of less than 5V and/or more than 12V can also befabricated using the principles of this invention.

FIGS. 19A-19H are equivalent circuit diagrams of some of the devicesshown in FIGS. 18A-1 to 18A-4, 18B-1 to 18B-4 and 18C-18H. In FIGS.19A-19H, “S” represents the source, “D” represents the drain, “G”represents the gate, “B” represents the body or base, “C” represents thecollector, “E” represents the emitter, “DN” represents a deep N layer,and FI represents the floor isolation connection (when applicable).

FIG. 19A shows the 5V CMOS including PMOS 301 and NMOS 302. Being 5Vdevices PMOS 301 and NMOS 302 have relatively thin gate oxide layers.PMOS 301 is isolated from the substrate by the diode labeled D1; NMOS302 would normally not be isolated from the substrate but NMOS 302 isshown as having a deep N layer formed below it, and diodes D2 and D3isolate NMOS 302 from the substrate. The deep N layer can be separatelybiased through the floor isolation terminal FI. Terminal FI can bereverse-biased or zero-biased to the body terminal B.

FIG. 19B shows 12V CMOS including PMOS 303 and NMOS 304. PMOS 303 andNMOS 304 have thicker gate oxide layers than PMOS 301 and NMOS 302. Adeep N layer under NMOS 304 forms diodes D4 and D5 which isolate NMOS304 from the substrate.

FIG. 19C shows 5V NPN 305 with a collector isolated from the substrateby a diode D7. FIG. 19D shows 5V quasi-vertical PNP 306 whose base isisolated from the substrate by the reverse-biased diode D8.

FIG. 19E shows 30V lateral trench DMOS 308, which can have either athick or thin gate oxide layer. A reverse-biased diode D6 is formedbetween the drain and the substrate. The source/body terminal S/B isalso isolated from the substrate.

FIG. 19F shows poly-to-poly capacitor 311, and FIG. 19G shows apolysilicon resistor (not shown in FIGS. 18A-18H). Both of these devicesare isolated from the substrate by an oxide layer.

FIG. 19H shows a conventional 30V lateral DMOS 320 whose source and bodyterminals are shorted together and tied to the substrate and whose drainterminal is isolated from the substrate by a diode D9. Schematically theN-channel lateral (surface) DMOS 320 shown in FIG. 18G and the N-channeltrench lateral DMOS 308 shown in FIG. 18A-4 appear to have identicalschematics, but their construction is completely different. We includethem both in the schematic to highlight their difference (one is asurface conduction device, the other one conducts in a channelvertically down a trench sidewall).

FIGS. 20A and 20B provide an overview of an illustrative processaccording to this invention that can be used to fabricate the devicesshown in FIGS. 18A-1 to 18A-4, 18B-1 to 18B-4 and 18C-18H. The processis depicted as a sequence of “cards” that briefly summarizes the stepsof the process. Cards that have clipped corners represent optionalprocess steps. The process is described in greater detail below in thedescription of FIGS. 21-67.

The process begins with a substrate and the performance of a LOCOS(local oxidation of silicon) sequence to form field oxide regions at thesurface of the substrate. The major portion of the thermal budget of theoverall process occurs during the LOCOS sequence. Next, there are threeoptions: the formation of a trench DMOS, the formation of a poly-to-polycapacitor, or the formation of N and P type wells in preparation for thefabrication of the 5V and 12V CMOS devices. In reality, the trench DMOSand poly-to-poly capacitor are not mutually exclusive. The polysiliconlayers that are deposited in this and subsequent parts of the processcan be used to form both a trench DMOS and a poly-to-poly capacitor.

After the wells have been formed, the gates for the lateral CMOS devicesare formed. The process then proceeds to the formation of the source anddrain regions, the deposition of a BPSG (borophosphosilicate glass orother dielectric) layer and the formation of contact openings in theBPSG layer, the formation of a dual-layer metal (DLM), and finally theformation of a third metal layer and a pad mask.

FIGS. 21-67 illustrate a process for fabricating several of the devicesshown in FIGS. 18A-1 to 18A-4, 18B-1 to 18B-4 and 18C-18H: in particularthe 5V PMOS 301, 5V NMOS 302, 5V NPN 305, 5V PNP 306, 30V lateral trenchDMOS 308, 12V PMOS 309, and 12V NMOS 310. The 5V NPN 305 and 5V PNP 306are shown both in a conventional form and in a form which providehigh-speed operation (high f_(T)). The process uses a single substrate350.

The figures labeled “A” show 5V PMOS 301 and 5V NMOS 302; the figureslabeled “B” show 5V NPN 305 and 5V PNP 306 in the conventional form; thefigures labeled “C” show 5V NPN 305 and 5V PNP 306 in the “high f_(T)”form; and figures labeled “D” show 30V lateral trench DMOS 308; and thefigures labeled “E” show 12V PMOS 309 and 12V NMOS 310. For ease ofreference, this scheme is summarized in Table 2.

TABLE 2 Drawing Subject “A” 5 V CMOS (5 V PMOS 310, 5 V NMOS 302) “B” 5V NPN 305, 5 V PNP 306 (High F_(T) Layout) “C” 5 V NPN, 5 V PNP(Conventional Layout) “D” 30 V Lateral Trench DMOS 308 “E” Symmetrical12 V CMOS (12 V PMOS 309, 12 V NMOS 310)

No drawing is provided where the particular stage of the process has nosignificant effect on the device or devices involved. For example, wherean implanted dopant is prevented from reaching the substrate by anoverlying nitride or oxide layer, or where a layer is deposited andlater removed with no significant effect on the underlying device, thedrawing is omitted. To preserve the identification of each letter with aparticular device, this necessarily means that the drawings are notsequential. For example, a drawing with a particular reference numeralmay have a “B” but no “A”.

FIG. 21 shows the starting material for all devices, namely substrate350. A pad oxide layer 402 is formed on substrate 350 to provide stressrelief between the nitride and the silicon substrate. For example, padoxide layer 402 may be formed by heating substrate 350 to around 850 to1100° C. for 30 minutes to 3 hours.

As shown in FIGS. 22A-22E, a nitride layer 404 is deposited on thesurface of substrate 350, typically having a thickness ranging from 700A to 4000 A with 1500 A being a nominal value. Photoresist mask layer406 is deposited on nitride layer 404. Using conventionalphotolithographic processes photoresist layer 406 isphotolithographically patterned and nitride layer 404 is etched throughopenings in photoresist layer 406 to form the structure shown in FIGS.22A-22E. In general the nitride remains in any area not to receive fieldoxidation, i.e. the nitride covered areas correspond to active regionswhere devices are to be fabricated.

As shown in FIGS. 23A-23E, photoresist layer 406 is removed, andfollowing a normal LOCOS active mask sequence substrate 350 is heated inan oxidizing ambient, for example, to 850 to 1100° C. but typically to900° C. for 1 to 4 hours, but nominally for 2 hours. As a result, fieldoxide layer 352 forms in the spaces between the sections of nitridelayer 404, not covered by nitride. Field oxide layer 352 may be in therange of 0.2 to 2 μm thick with 0.5 μm being nominal. Nitride layer 352is then removed, as shown in FIGS. 24A-24E. This leaves field oxidelayer 352 in predetermined areas within and between the devices to beformed in substrate 350. A pad oxide layer 408 is grown in the areasbetween the sections of field oxide layer 352.

As shown in FIG. 25D, in the area that will contain 30V Lateral TrenchDMOS 308, a nitride layer 410, a TEOS oxide layer 412, and a photoresistmask layer 414 are deposited in succession on top of pad oxide layer408. Nitride layer 410 can be in the range of 0.1 to 0.6 μm thick buttypically 0.2 μm. TEOS oxide layer 412 is deposited by the well knownprocess and can be 200 A to 2 μm thick, for example, but typically has athickness of 700 A. Photoresist mask layer 414 is photolithographicallypatterned by forming relatively narrow openings 415, which are then usedto etch through TEOS oxide layer 412 and nitride layer 410 and intosubstrate 350, forming trenches 416 in substrate 350. Preferably, adirectional process such as reactive ion etch (RIE) is used to etch intosubstrate 350. Trenches 416 can be typically 0.5 μm wide (but can rangefrom 0.25 μm to 1 um) and between 0.8 to 2 μm (typically 1.5 μm) deep,for example. (Note that four trenches 416 are shown in FIG. 25D, whereasonly a single trench for 30V lateral trench DMOS 308 is shown in FIG.18A-4. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that lateraltrench DMOS 308 could have any number of trenches while the basicstructure of lateral trench DMOS 308 remains the same.)

As shown in FIG. 26D, photoresist layer 414 is stripped, and asacrificial oxide layer 418 is grown on the walls of trenches 416 torepair any crystal damage that resulted from the RIE process. Then, asshown in FIG. 27D, sacrificial oxide layer 418 is removed and gate oxidelayer 398A is formed on the walls of trenches 416. Gate oxide layer 398Acan be 100 A to 1200 A thick but typically is around 200 A thick and canbe formed by heating substrate 350 at 850 to 1000° C. but typically at900 C for 30 minutes to 3 hours, but typically for 1 hour.

As shown in FIG. 28D, a first polysilicon layer 396A is deposited,filling trenches 416 and flowing over the surface of TEOS oxide layer414. Polysilicon layer 396A is made conductive by depositing the layerwith in-situ doped phosphorus at high concentrations. This would producea first polysilicon layer 396A having a sheet resistivity ofapproximately 20 ohms per square. Then, as shown in FIG. 29D,polysilicon layer 396A is etched back until the surface of polysiliconlayer 396A is roughly level with the surface of nitride layer 410 and,as shown in FIG. 30D, TEOS oxide layer 412 is removed. Polysilicon layer396A is then etched back again, as shown in FIG. 31D, only slightly tobelow the nitride surface.

As shown in FIG. 32D, second polysilicon layer 389 is deposited on thesurface of nitride layer 410 and first polysilicon layer 396A.Polysilicon layer 389 can be doped in the same manner as polysiliconlayer 396A, or it can be implanted with phosphorus at 60 keV at a doseof 1 to 3E15 cm⁻² and can be 2000 A thick, for example. As shown in FIG.33D, an oxide-nitride-oxide (ONO) interlayer dielectric 387 is depositedover polysilicon layer 389 using a well known process to a thickness of100 A to 500 A for example (with 350 A being typical). This ONO layer isused for forming the poly-to-poly capacitors in the IC.

A photoresist mask (not shown) is formed over interlayer dielectric 387,and interlayer dielectric 387 and polysilicon layer 389 are removedexcept in the areas where the photoresist mask remains. One of the areaswhere the photoresist mask remains is the portion of substrate 350 wherepoly-to-poly capacitor 311 is to be formed. As shown in FIG. 18B-2,polysilicon layer 389 forms the bottom plate and interlayer dielectric387 forms the dielectric layer of poly-to-poly capacitor 311. Afterpoly-to-poly capacitor 311 has been formed the photoresist mask (notshown) is removed.

FIG. 34D shows the structure in the area of 30V lateral trench DMOS 308after interlayer dielectric 387 and polysilicon layer 389 have beenremoved. Note that the surface of polysilicon layer 396A is roughlylevel with the surface of substrate 350, and polysilicon layer 396A hasbecome the polysilicon gate 396A of lateral trench DMOS 308, separatedfrom substrate 350 by gate oxide layer 398A.

This completes the fabrication of the trench and gate of lateral trenchDMOS 308. As described above, only the drawings labeled “D” are used todescribed this process. In the other areas of substrate 350 the variouslayers described above are deposited and removed without affecting theunderlying portions of substrate 350.

As shown in FIGS. 35A-35E, a photoresist mask layer 430 is deposited andphotolithographically patterned to form openings in all areas exceptwhere the illustrated lateral trench DMOS is to be formed (FIG. 35D).Other trench DMOS variants which use a deep N (DN) layer in part oftheir structure would in fact also be masked and patterned to receivethe implant. An N-type dopant is implanted through the openings in masklayer 430 to form the deep N (DN) layers. In the areas of the 5V PNP and5V NPN (both the high f_(T) and conventional layouts) deep N layers 390Aand 390B are formed (FIGS. 35B and 35C). In the area of the symmetrical12V CMOS, deep N layer 390C is formed (FIG. 35E). In the area of 5V NMOS302, a deep N layer 390G is formed. (Note that this is a variation fromthe embodiment shown in FIG. 18A-1, where 5V NMOS 302 has no underlyingdeep N layer and is thus not isolated from substrate 350.) Deep N layer390 could be formed, for example, by implanting phosphorus at a dose of1E13 to 5E14 cm⁻² but typically at a dose of 5E13 cm⁻² and an energy of1.5 MeV to 3 MeV but typically at 2.0 MeV. This would produce a deep Nlayer having a doping concentration of approximately 1E18 cm⁻³ and arange of 2 to 3 μm below the surface of substrate 350 and a straggle of0.3 μm. At 2 MeV, the thickness of the isolated P substrate above the DNlayer without the addition of a P well is approximately 1 μm.

After the deep N implant has been completed, mask layer 430 is removed.

As shown in FIGS. 36D and 37D, a photoresist mask layer 432 is depositedand photolithographically patterned to form an opening in the area of30V lateral trench DMOS 308. An N-type dopant is implanted in two stagesthrough the opening in mask layer 432. The structure after the firstimplant is shown in FIG. 36D and the structure after the second implantis shown in FIG. 37D, together the implants constituting a chainedimplant drift region. The first implant can be phosphorus at a dose of3E12 cm⁻² and an energy of 190 keV; the second implant can be phosphorusat a dose of 1.7E12 cm⁻² and an energy of 225 keV. This would form theshallower drift portions 391A of the N-drift region, having a dopingconcentration of approximately 1E16 cm³, where the dopant passes throughfield oxide layer 352, and the deeper drift portions 393A of the N-driftregion, having a doping concentration of approximately 4E16 cm⁻³, wherethe dopant does not pass through field oxide region 352. In thisembodiment, the shallower drift portions 391A abut the lower surface offield oxide layer 352 and the deeper drift portions 393A extend to thebottom of trenches 416. Of course any number of chained implants can beused to optimize the drift region as long as the total charge (totaldopant implanted Q) remains relatively unaltered by decreasing theimplant doses commensurate with number of implants being performed.

Mask layer 432 is stripped and a photoresist mask layer 434 is depositedand photolithographically patterned to have an opening in the area ofthe 12V symmetrical CMOS. An N-type dopant is implanted through theopening in mask layer 434 in two stages, shown in FIGS. 38E and 39E,respectively, to form N well 380B for 12V PMOS 309. The first stage maybe phosphorus implanted at a dose of 1E12 cm⁻² and an energy of 250 keV.The second stage may be phosphorus implanted at a dose of 3E13 cm⁻² andan energy of 1 MeV. This would produce an N well 380B having a dopingconcentration in the range of approximately 5E16 cm⁻³. An added implant,for example, an extra 7E12 cm⁻² may be also included at an intermediateenergy such as 600 keV.

Mask layer 434 is removed and replaced by a photoresist mask layer 436,which is photolithographically patterned to have openings in the areasof 5V PMOS 301, 5V NPN 305, 5V PNP 306, 30V lateral trench DMOS 308 and12V PMOS 309. An N-type dopant is implanted through these openings inthree stages, yielding the structures shown in FIGS. 40A-40E, 41A-41Eand 42A-42E, respectively. This forms the N well 354A (body) in 5V PMOS301; N well 354C, which forms part of the collector in 5V NPN 305; Nwell 354D, which forms part of the base in 5V PNP 306 (“high f_(T)”version only); N well 354E, which forms part of wraparound “floorisolation” region for 5V PNP 306; N well 354F, which forms part of thedrain in 30V lateral trench DMOS 308; and isolation regions 354G in 12VPMOS 309. The first stage may be phosphorus implanted at a dose of 5E12cm⁻² and an energy of 500 keV. The second stage may be phosphorusimplanted at a dose of 6E11 cm⁻² and an energy of 250 keV. The thirdstage may be phosphorus implanted threshold adjust at a dose of 3E11cm⁻² and an energy of 60 keV. This would produce N-type regions having adoping concentration of approximately in the range of 6E16 to 1E17 cm⁻³.

Mask layer 436 is removed and replaced by a photoresist mask layer 438,which is photolithographically patterned to have openings in 5V PNP 306and 12V NMOS 310. A P-type dopant is implanted through these openings intwo stages, yielding the structures shown in FIGS. 43B, 43C, 43E, 44B,44C and 44E. This forms P well 386B, which forms part of the collectorin 5V PNP 306, and P well 386D, which forms the P well (body) for 12VNMOS 310. The first stage may be boron implanted at a dose of 4E13 cm⁻²and an energy of 500 keV. The second stage may be boron implanted at adose of 2E13 cm⁻² and an energy of 100 keV. This would produce P-typeregions having a doping concentration of in the range of approximatelymid to high E16 cm⁻³.

Mask layer 438 is removed and replaced by a photoresist mask layer 440,which is photolithographically patterned to have openings in 5V NMOS302, 5V NPN 305, 5V PNP, and 12V NMOS 310. A P-type dopant is implantedthrough these openings in two stages, yielding the structures shown inFIGS. 45A, 45B, 45C, 45E, 46A, 46B, 46C and 46E. This forms P well 372A,which forms the P well (body) for 5V NMOS 302; double P well 372C, thebase of 5V NPN 305; and region 372F, which helps to isolate 12V NMOS310. The first stage may be boron implanted at a dose of 1E13 cm⁻² to2E13 cm⁻² and an energy of 250 keV. The second stage may be boronimplanted at a dose of 2E13 cm⁻² and an energy of 40 keV. This wouldproduce P-type regions having a doping concentration in the low E17 cm⁻³range.

Mask layer 440 is removed and a photoresist mask layer 442 is deposited.Mask layer 442 covers only trenches 416 and the adjacent areas of 30Vlateral trench DMOS 308. Mask layer 440 is shown in FIG. 47D. Theremaining areas, which are the planar active regions of substrate 350,are then etched. (Note that the effects of the etch are not visible inthe drawing.) Mask layer 442 is then removed.

As shown in FIGS. 48A and 48E, substrate 350 is heated to form a firstgate oxide layer 444 in the MOS devices, i.e., 5V PMOS 301, 5V NMOS 302,12V PMOS 309, and 12V NMOS 310. Substrate 350 can be heated to 800 to1100° C. but preferably to 900° C. for 30 minutes to 4 hours, forexample, but preferably for around 2 hours, to form a first gate oxidelayer 444 that is 180 Å thick.

As shown in FIGS. 49A, 49E, 50A and 50E, an implant of a P-type dopantis performed, in two stages, to adjust the threshold voltage of the MOSdevices, i.e., 5V PMOS 301, 5V NMOS 302, 12V PMOS 309, and 12V NMOS 310.As shown in FIGS. 49A and 49E, the first stage is a blanket (unmasked)implant that forms threshold adjust regions 446 in all four MOS devices.The first stage can be performed with boron at a dose of 2E11 cm⁻² andan energy of 60 keV. This implant is so light that it has no appreciableeffect on the operation of the other devices in substrate 350. Thesecond stage, shown in FIGS. 50A and 50E, is performed with aphotoresist mask layer 448 in place, which covers all areas except for5V PMOS 301 and 5V NMOS 302, and forms threshold adjust regions 450 inthose devices. The second stage can be performed with boron at a dose of8E11 to 2E12 cm⁻² and an energy of 60 keV.

After the second stage of the threshold adjust implant, and with masklayer 448 still in place, the first gate oxide layer 444 is etched from5V PMOS 301 and 5V NMOS 302. With mask layer 448 still in place, firstgate oxide layer 444 in 12V PMOS 309 and 12V NMOS 310 is not affected.Thereafter, mask layer 448 is removed.

As shown in FIGS. 51A and 51E, a second gate oxide layer 452 is grown inall areas of substrate 350. To form second gate oxide layer 452,substrate 350 may be heated to 800° C. to 1100° C. but preferably at900° C. for 20 minutes to 2 hours, but commonly 50 minutes yielding a150 Å-thick second gate oxide layer 452 in 5V PMOS 301 and 5V NMOS 302,where the first gate oxide layer 444 has been removed. In 12V PMOS 309and 12V NMOS 310, since first gate oxide layer 444 is still present, thethicknesses of the first and second gate oxide layers 444, 452 are notadditive. As a result, the combined thickness of first and second gateoxide layers 444, 452 in the 12V MOS devices is approximately 300 Å. Tosummarize, the gate oxide layer in the 5V MOS devices is approximately150 Å thick; the gate oxide layer in the 12V MOS devices isapproximately 300 Å thick. The growth of second gate oxide layer 452does not significantly affect the structure or operation of the non-MOSdevices.

As shown in FIGS. 52A, 52D and 52E, a third polysilicon layer 454 isdeposited over all areas of substrate 350. Third polysilicon layer 454,which may be 2000 A thick, for example, is preferably a silicided layer,sometimes referred to as a “polycide”. Next, as shown in FIGS. 53A, 53Dand 53E, a photoresist mask layer 456 is deposited andphotolithographically patterned, leaving relatively small sections ofmask layer 456 in 5V PMOS 301, 5V NMOS 302, 30V lateral trench DMOS 308,12V PMOS 309 and 12V NMOS 310. Polysilicon layer 454 is then etched.This leaves gate 358A in 5V PMOS 301, gate 358B in 5V NMOS 302, sectionsof polysilicon layer 454 in 30V lateral trench DMOS 308, gate 358E in12V PMOS 309, and gate 358F in 12V NMOS 310. Mask layer 456 is removed.

As shown in FIGS. 54A-54E, a photoresist mask layer 458 is deposited andphotolithographically patterned with openings in various devices, theopenings defining those regions that are to receive the “N-base”phosphorus implant, whose primary function is to serve as the N-typebase of PNP transistors including the base of 5V PNP 306. The dopant maybe used in other devices in a non critical way, e.g. to improvecontacts, lower resistance, reduce parasitics, etc. For example as shownin FIGS. 54A-54E, the N base implant is also used in the isolationcontact window of PNP 306, but its function in the contact window is notas critical as it is in its role as the PNP base. In a similar manner,it may also be introduced between 5V PMOS 301 and 5V NMOS 302 in thecontact window for the N well and isolation region; and in 5V NPN 305 inthe collector contact window, in 30V lateral trench DMOS 308 in thedrain contact window, in 12V PMOS 309 in the N well contact window.Maintaining the principal of modularity and device independence, the Nbase implant is not used to critically determine the performance of anyother devices other than the various forms of PNP devices in theprocess. Mask layer 458 is removed.

As shown in FIGS. 55D and 55E, a photoresist mask layer 460 is depositedand photolithographically patterned with openings only in 30V lateraltrench DMOS 308. A P-type dopant, typically boron, is implanted, as achain implant (and specifically in the case shown in two stages) throughthe openings in mask layer 460, forming P body regions 395A in 30Vlateral trench DMOS 308. The first stage of this implant can be boron ata dose of 3E12 cm⁻² and an energy of 190 keV. The second stage of thisimplant can be boron at a dose of 1.7E12 cm⁻² and an energy of 225 keV.This would produce P body regions 395A having a doping concentration ofapproximately 2.5E17 cm⁻³. Mask layer 460 is removed. Maintaining theprincipal of modularity and device independence, the P body implant isnot used to determine the performance of any devices other than thevarious lateral trench DMOS devices.

As shown in FIG. 57E, a photoresist mask layer 462 is deposited andphotolithographically patterned with openings in 12V PMOS 309 and 12VNMOS 310. A P-type dopant, typically boron (herein referred to as a 12VP-LDD implant) is implanted through the openings to form lightly-dopeddrain (LDD) regions 363C and 363D on the sides of gate 358E in 12V PMOS309. This implant can be performed with boron at a dose of 2E12 cm⁻² andan energy of 60 keV, yielding LLD regions 363C and 363D having a dopingconcentration of approximately 10¹⁷ cm⁻³. Maintaining the principal ofmodularity and device independence, the 12V P-LDD implant is not used todetermine the performance of any devices other than the various 12V PMOSdevices. Mask layer 462 is removed.

As shown in FIG. 58E, a photoresist mask layer 464 is deposited andphotolithographically patterned with openings in 12V NMOS 310. An N-typedopant, typically phosphorus (herein referred to as the 12V N-LDDimplant) is implanted through the openings to form lightly-doped drain(LDD) regions 377C and 377D on the sides of gate 358F in 12V NMOS 310.The implant may also be introduced in non critical areas, e.g. the bodycontact in 12V NMOS 310. This implant can be performed with phosphorusat a dose of 2E12 cm⁻² and an energy of 80 keV, yielding LDD regions377C and 377D having a doping concentration of approximately 8E16 cm⁻³.Maintaining the principal of modularity and device independence, the 12VN-LDD implant is not used to determine the performance of any devicesother than the various 12V NMOS devices. Mask layer 464 is removed.

As shown in FIGS. 59A-59D, a photoresist mask layer 466 is deposited andphotolithographically patterned with openings in various devices, theopenings of which define those regions receive the “5V P-LDD” boronimplant, whose primary function is to serve as the drift or LDD invarious 5V PMOS transistors including the LDD of 5V PMOS 301. The dopantmay be used in other devices in a non critical way, e.g. to improvecontacts, lower resistance, reduce parasitics, etc. For example as shownin FIGS. 59A-59D, the 5V P-LDD implant is also used in the P wellcontact window of 5V NMOS 302, in the base contact window of 5V NPN 305,in the emitter and collector contact windows of 5V PNP 306, and in the Pbody contact window of 30V lateral trench DMOS 308. This implant can beperformed with boron at a dose of 5E12 cm⁻² and an energy of 60 keV,yielding P-type regions having a doping concentration of approximately7E16 cm⁻³. Maintaining the principal of modularity and deviceindependence, the 5V P-LDD implant is not used to determine theperformance of any devices other than the various 5V PMOS devices. Masklayer 466 is removed.

As shown in FIGS. 60A-60D, a photoresist mask layer 468 is deposited andphotolithographically patterned with openings in various devices, theopenings defining those regions that are to receive the “5V N-LDD”, aphosphorus or arsenic implant whose primary function is to serve as thedrift or LDD in various 5V NMOS transistors including the LDD of 5V NMOS302. The dopant may be used in other devices in a non critical way, e.g.to improve contacts, lower resistance, reduce parasitics, etc. Forexample, as shown in FIGS. 60A-60D, the 5V N-LDD implant is also used inthe N well contact window of 5V PMOS 301, in the emitter and collectorcontact windows of 5V NPN 305, in the base contact window of 5V PNP 306,and in the source/drain contact windows of 30V lateral trench DMOS 308.This implant can be performed with phosphorus or arsenic at a dose of8E12 cm⁻². With phosphorus the energy could be 60 keV and with arsenicthe energy could be 140 keV. This would yield N-type regions having adoping concentration of approximately 3E17 cm⁻³. Mask layer 468 isremoved.

An oxide layer is deposited on the surface of substrate and is thenanisotropically etched in a reactive ion etcher using well known methodsThis removes the oxide from the horizontal surfaces, but leaves oxidespacers 470 on the vertical sidewalls of gates 358A, 358B in 5V PMOS 301and 5V NMOS 302, respectively; oxide spacers 472 on the verticalsidewalls of field plate 454 in 30V lateral trench DMOS 308 and oxidespacers 474 on the vertical sidewalls of gates 358E, 358F in 12V PMOS309 and 12V NMOS 310, respectively. The resulting structure is shown inFIGS. 61A, 61D and 61E.

As shown in FIGS. 62A-62E, a photoresist mask layer 476 is deposited andphotolithographically patterned with openings in all of the devices. AP-type dopant is implanted through these openings, forming P+source/drain regions 364A, 364B in 5V PMOS 301, a well contact region in5V NMOS 302, P+ base contact region 364E in 5V NPN 305, P+ emitter andcollector contact regions 364F and 364G in 5V PNP 306, P+ body contactregion 364I in 30V lateral trench DMOS 308, P+ source/drain regions 364Jand 364K in 12V PMOS 309, and P+ body contact region in 12V NMOS 310.This implant could be boron or BF2 at a dose of 2E15 cm⁻² to 9E15 cm⁻²,but typically at 5E15 cm⁻² and an energy of 60 keV, yielding P+ regionshaving a doping concentration of 8E19 cm⁻³. While P+ is used in manydevice structures, it has minimal effect on setting devicecharacteristics. Mask layer 476 is removed.

As shown in FIGS. 63A-63E, a photoresist mask layer 478 is deposited andphotolithographically patterned with openings in all of the devices. AnN-type dopant is implanted through these openings, forming a wellcontact region in 5V PMOS 301, N+ source/drain regions 378A, 378B in 5VNMOS 302, N+ emitter and collector regions 378E and 378F in 5V NPN 305,N+ base contact regions in 5V PNP 306, N+ source and drain contactregions 378I, 378J in 30V lateral trench DMOS 308, N well contact regionin 12V PMOS 309, and N+ source/drain regions 378K and 378L in 12V NMOS310. This implant could be arsenic or phosphorus at a dose of 4E15 cm⁻²to 9E15 cm⁻² and an energy of 40 keV to 80 keV, yielding N+ regionshaving a doping concentration of 8E19 cm⁻³. While N+ is used in manydevice structures, it has minimal effect on setting devicecharacteristics. Mask layer 478 is removed.

As shown in FIGS. 64A-64E, an interlayer dielectric 480 is depositedover the surface of substrate 350. Interlayer dielectric could beborophosphosilicate glass (BPSG) or any other glass, deposited by CVD orspin coating to a thickness of 2000 A to 7000 A. A photoresist masklayer 482 is deposited on interlayer dielectric 480 and lithographicallypatterned with openings where electrical contact is to be made tosubstrate 350. Interlayer dielectric is etched through the openings inmask layer 482, and mask layer 482 is removed.

As shown in FIGS. 65A-65E, a photoresist mask layer 484 is deposited andphotolithographically patterned with openings over certain of theopenings in interlayer dielectric 480. An N-type dopant is implantedthrough the openings in mask layer 484 to form “N-plug” regions. TheN-plug regions are heavily doped and improve the ohmic contact betweenthe metal layer to be deposited later and the N-type regions ofsubstrate 350. Note that since the N-type dopant enters the N+ regionspreviously formed the N-plug regions are not visible in FIGS. 18A-1 to18A-4, 18B-1 to 18B-4, or 65A-65E. The N-plug implant could bephosphorus or arsenic at a dose of 6E19 cm⁻² and an energy of 30 keV,yielding shallow N-plug regions of nearly degenerate doping. Mask layer484 is removed.

As shown in FIGS. 66A-66E, a P-type dopant is implanted through theopenings in interlayer dielectric 480 to form “P-plug” regions. Thep-plug regions are heavily doped and improve the ohmic contact betweenthe metal layer to be deposited later and the P-type regions ofsubstrate 350. The P-plug implant could be boron at a dose of 6E15 cm⁻²and an energy of 40 keV, yielding P-plug regions having very shallownearly degenerately doped layers. The boron P-plug doping is notsufficient to counterdope the N-plug implants and therefore does notrequire a mask to restrict it to the P+ areas.

Finally, as shown in FIGS. 67A-67E, a metal layer 486 is deposited onthe top surface of interlayer dielectric 480, filling the openings ininterlayer dielectric 480 and making electrical contact with theunderlying regions of substrate 350. Metal layer 486 could be Al/Si/Cudeposited by sputtering or co-evaporation to a thickness of 5000 A. Aphotoresist mask layer (not shown) is then deposited on metal layer 486and patterned to form openings. Metal layer 486 is etched through theopenings in the mask layer to separate the portions of metal layer 486that are in electrical contact with the various terminals of the devicesformed in substrate 350. The mask layer is then removed.

Subsequent process steps include the common steps involved in multilayermetal IC processes including the deposition of another interlayerdielectric such as spin on glass, an optional etchback or CMPplanarization of the glass, followed by a photo-masking step (via mask)and etch, a tungsten deposition, a tungsten etch-back or CMPplanarization. A second metal layer (not shown) is next deposited,generally by sputtering Al—Cu to a thickness greater than the thicknessof metal layer 486, e.g. 7000 A, followed by a photo-masking and dryetching of the second metal layer.

Similarly, an optional third metal layer process includes common stepsinvolved in multilayer metal IC processes including the deposition of asecond interlayer dielectric such as spin on glass, a CMP planarizationof the glass, followed by a photo-masking step (via 2 mask) and etch, atungsten deposition, a tungsten etch-back or CMP planarization. A thirdmetal layer is then deposited, generally by sputtering Al—Cu to athickness greater than 1 um (but as thick as 4 um), followed by aphoto-masking and dry etching of the third metal layer.

The final steps involve the CVD deposition of passivation material suchas SiN (silicon nitride) to a thickness of 1000 A to 5000 A, followed bya passivation (pad) masking operation to open bonding pad regions.

This completes the fabrication of 5V PMOS 301, 5V NMOS 302, 5V NPN 305,5V PNP 306, 30V lateral trench DMOS 308, 12V PMOS 309, and 12V NMOS 310.It will be understood that the additional interlayer dielectrics andmetal layers described briefly can be deposited over the structure tofacilitate making contact with the terminals of these devices and toreduce the interconnect resistance of such connections.

The embodiments described above are illustrative only and not limiting.Many alternative embodiments in accordance with the broad principles ofthis invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

1. An isolated CMOS arrangement of transistors formed in a semiconductorsubstrate, said substrate being doped with P-type impurity and notcomprising an epitaxial layer, said CMOS arrangement comprising anisolated CMOS pair, said CMOS pair comprising a PMOS and a NMOS, and anassociated isolation structure: said PMOS comprising: an N well having arelatively deep central portion and relatively shallow side portions,said side portions of said N well underlying a field oxide layer, saidcentral portion of said N well underlying a first opening in said fieldoxide layer; a first gate overlying a channel region of said N well andseparated from said substrate by a first gate oxide layer; a P-typesource region located at the surface of said substrate on one side ofsaid first gate; and a P-type drain region located at the surface ofsaid substrate on an opposite side of said first gate from said P-typesource region; electrical contacts to said first gate, P-type sourceregion, P-type drain region and N well; said NMOS comprising: a P wellhaving a relatively deep central portion and relatively shallow sideportions, said relatively shallow side portions of said P wellunderlying the field oxide layer, said relatively deep central portionof said P well underlying a second opening in said field oxide layer,said P well being electrically isolated from the surrounding P-typesubstrate by said isolation structure; a second gate overlying a channelregion of said P well and separated from said substrate by a second gateoxide layer; an N-type source region located at the surface of saidsubstrate on one side of said second gate; and an N-type drain regionlocated at the surface of said substrate on an opposite side of saidsecond gate from said N-type source region; electrical contacts to saidsecond gate, N-type source region, N-type drain region and P well; saidisolation structure comprising: said N well, said N well extendingdownward from the surface of said substrate and laterally surroundingsaid P well; and an N-type isolation layer located in said substrate andunderlying said P well and at least a portion of said N well, saidN-type isolation layer extending laterally beyond said P well asufficient distance and said second N well being sufficiently deep insaid substrate such that said N-type isolation layer overlaps said Nwell so as to isolate said P well from said P-type substrate. wherein adoping concentration profile taken at a vertical cross-section throughsaid central portion of said N well comprises a series of two or morevertically separated Gaussian profiles differing in depth andconcentration and overlapping to form a continuous N-type region.
 2. Theisolated CMOS arrangement of claim 2 wherein said N well is formed ofone or more dopants selected from the group consisting of phosphorus,arsenic, a combination of phosphorus and at least one other N-typedopant, a combination of arsenic and at least one other N-type dopant,and a combination of phosphorus and arsenic and at least one otherN-type dopant.